Not fooled, the French? 61% of them believe that the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris will have a fairly or very negative impact on the environment, even if 23% think it will be quite or very positive. The idea that major sporting events represent an inevitable environmental waste seems to have taken hold in public opinion.
The Parisian Olympiad, however, presents itself as much more virtuous than the previous ones, displaying since its candidacy in 2016 an objective of “sobriety”, while the term was not very popular.
If the initial claim of “carbon neutrality” was abandoned, discredited by its misleading use for the 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar, and above all officially disapproved to characterize an event, Georgina Grenon, director of environmental excellence of the committee organization (Cojop), states:
“Our very ambitious commitment has not changed one iota: to halve CO emissions2 compared to the average for the London and Rio Games, and finance climate contribution projects commensurate with the emissions that we will not have been able to avoid. »
The use of a large majority of existing or temporary infrastructure, the compactness of the sites (85% are less than 10 km from the Olympic Village) and the density of the public transport network have contributed to making this objective of 1.58 million tonnes of CO2.
“The Paris Games are the first to set such objectives, and the reduction in their emissions is significant”greets Martin Müller, professor at the Institute of Geography and Sustainability at the University of Lausanne, who immediately weighs in: “Half of a bad result doesn’t make a good result. This is just the beginning of a journey that must continue. » So, how much of this journey has the Paris Olympiad covered?
A catalog of good practices
“Before reducing impacts, we must understand them: we have carried out unprecedented in-depth work on the three aspects of climate impact, material impact (use of resources) and impact on nature »explains Georgina Grenon.
The approach is based on four pillars: contributing to carbon neutrality, preserving and regenerating biodiversity, developing the circular economy and strengthening resilience to climate change. It emphasizes three areas of emissions: construction, energy and food.
The 52 hectares of the athletes’ village are a model construction site e: it claims a 30% reduction in emissions per square meter
The 52 hectares of the athletes’ village are a model site. Combining reuse, low-carbon and biosourced materials (including wood from eco-managed forests), river transport, use of geothermal energy and photovoltaics, green roofs or solar protection, it claims a 30% reduction in emissions at square meter, 47% over the entire life cycle.
On the energy front, Georgina Grenon announces “a complete change of scale” and an 80% reduction in emissions compared to sporting events organized in France, thanks to the connection to the network of all competition sites in order to eliminate diesel generators, and to a mix of electricity coming 100% from renewable energies, provided by EDF.
For the 13 million meals to be distributed, in addition to a drastic reduction in plastic containers, the objective is to halve emissions compared to an average French meal, by putting twice as much vegetable on the plates, by buying local at 80%, and seasonal.
“We analyzed the entire value chain, from the farmer to the methane digester, and fought against waste by reducing our own orders, optimizing inventory management and signing agreements with associations which will redistribute unsold items”details Georgina Grenon.
The value of example
Construction techniques “developed by French companies and today unique in the world”, know-how transmitted to the organizing committees of the next Olympics, “Climate Coach” guide to help all event organizers reduce their impacts: with this “intangible heritage”, the main ecological value of these Games would be that of example.
“We took the challenge of transforming these Games into a laboratory in order to implement innovative solutions on a very large scale. And if it’s possible for the Games, it’s possible for everyone”assures Georgina Grenon.
“The eco-design of the Olympic Village buildings and carbon accounting have lifted everyone up and contributed to the increase in the skills of stakeholders and the evolution of standards of behavior”also wants to believe Maël Besson, consultant formerly with WWF France and the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Martin Müller is more doubtful: “Our research shows that these exceptional events do not really change structures, economic models or public policies. Their effects are very transitory, especially as the financial resources devoted to the Olympic Games tend to disappear. »
In a report published on April 15, the NGO Carbon Market Watch and the Eclaircies firm recognize the effort, but judge the “climate strategy” of Paris 2024 “incomplete, and far from ensuring sufficient transparency”pointing out the vagueness around the purchase of carbon credits.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty, particularly regarding the number of spectators and their origin, which suggests that the estimate of the carbon footprint is optimistic,” analyzes Maël Besson. But he joins Georgina Grenon when she asks: “Do you know of many events or economic activities in France that have set such an objective? And who reached it? »
The trajectory of Paris
A halving of emissions puts the 2024 edition on track for the Paris agreement. But what about the next ones? Taking London 2012 as a reference – with between 3 and 5 million tonnes of CO2 issued –, Martin Müller calculates that we should reach between 300,000 and 500,000 tonnes by 2050. “But the IOC does not set such objectives. The trajectory of the Games is not part of a reduction to the extent of the objectives. »
Their model is in fact based on mass tourism, the great unthinkable of Parisian satisfaction. “So much air transport is mathematically not compatible with planetary limits”confirms Maël Besson.
The Olympic model is based on mass tourism, the great unthought of Parisian satisfaction
In Los Angeles (United States), a highly carbon-intensive city, in 2028, then in Brisbane (Australia) in 2032, the “complete overhaul of the Games model” what Carbon Market Watch calls for seems doomed to remain a dead letter.
The Games also remain a vector of greenwashing. If TotalEnergies was excluded, “at least six sponsors of the event (ArcelorMittal, Air France, Danone, Saint Gobain, Vinci) are on a climate trajectory incompatible with the Paris agreement”, pointed out César Dugast, from the Eclaircies firm, on the X network (formerly Twitter) on April 15. Without forgetting Coca-Cola, superpower behind the IOC and “world champion” of plastic pollution according to the Break Free From Plastic association.
Highly polluting companies, over-represented in sports sponsorship, “come to seek values that their activities do not respect”, quips Maël Besson ironically. He advocates “a sort of Evin climate law to decarbonize private financing of sport, which would prohibit the advertising of products and services harmful to the environment”.
Change the rules of the Games
Martin Müller returns to “paradox at the heart of the Olympic Games, winter and summer”: “Their performance depends on the climate, but they harm their own living conditions with CO emissions2 very important ». The problem is not the Paris Olympic Games, but the Olympic Games themselves, and their gigantism.
Yet, ” there Most revenue from the Olympics does not depend on their size and number of spectators, but on broadcast rights and sponsorship. The event would therefore aim to decarbonize without harming its economic model”estimates the Swiss academic.
To truly “reinvent” it, more radical solutions are being put forward: reduction in the number of athletes and disciplines, choice of one to three permanent sites which would welcome them in rotation, quotas for foreign spectators, development of “fan zones” and technologies allowing competitions to be experienced remotely, etc.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which their environmental excellence manager does not want to describe as “Ecological games”but of “More responsible games”will have opened a path, without being able to guarantee that it does not end in a dead end.
