Did Paris 2024 keep its Games promise? “historical for the climate” et in « rupture » with previous editions in terms of environmental requirements and sustainability? Mission accomplished, according to the summary of the final report published Wednesday December 11 by the organizing committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) to draw up the definitive assessment of its strategy aimed at “deliver more responsible Games”.
Most ambitious objective: halve the carbon footprint of the Games compared to the average of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 editions, estimated at 3.5 million tonnes of CO equivalent2. The 2021 edition in Tokyo was canceled because it took place without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To achieve this, unlike previous editions, Paris 2024 had set itself, in advance, a « budget carbone » total not to be exceeded, set at 1.58 million tonnes of CO equivalent2. According to the Cojop count, the objective is achieved with a final carbon footprint of 1.59 million teqCO2a reduction of 54.6% compared to London and Rio.
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However, the organizers had largely underestimated the greenhouse gas emissions generated by spectator travel: they represented 53% of the overall carbon footprint (833,600 teqCO2) compared to 34% planned in the initial carbon budget.
The impact of air travel
With 12.1 million tickets sold (new record), the JOPs welcomed more spectators than expected, particularly non-European spectators who came by plane. According to the report data, 66.4% of spectators came from France, 21.5% from Europe (UK, Germany, Belgium) and 12.1% from the rest of the world (United States, Brazil, Canada). On site, 87% of spectators took public transport or active mobility (biking, scootering, walking) to get to the event sites.
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A report published in June by the association The Shifters, specializing in ecological transition, pointed out this underestimation of emissions linked to foreign visitors. For one of its authors, Paul Delanoë, “the figure of 833,600 teqCO2 seems incoherent and too weak.
According to the report published by London 2012, emissions linked to transport had reached 900,000 tonnes for only 11 million tickets sold. “How could emissions be reduced by almost 8% by selling 10% more tickets and not taking any measures to limit the impact of international travel? “, asks Paul Delanoë.
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