Paris Olympics, "medal" for environmental protection

The Games have been over for months, but there is still good news coming out of Paris. Greenhouse gas emissions associated with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games have been halved compared to previous editions, despite the higher-than-expected impact of air travel, according to figures released by organizers. "Today, we are very proud to say that we have reduced the carbon footprint of the Games by 54.6% compared to previous editions," said Georgina Grenon, director of "environmental excellence" for the Paris Olympic Games. Organizers calculated the carbon footprint to be 1.59 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2 t). This is in line with the established "carbon budget" (1.58 million tCO2e) and the broader objective of halving the carbon footprint compared to the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016, which was around 3.5 million tCO2e. "We made considerable efforts in all areas of the organisation, right up until the last moment," said Georgina Grenon. In particular, the construction footprint was limited thanks to the 95% use of existing or temporary infrastructure, unlike the much-criticised Qatar World Cup. However, while overall emissions were generally in line with forecasts, the relative weight of the different components was ultimately quite different from what had been initially forecast. The forecast emissions were split into three: one third for travel, one third for construction and one third for games-related operations (accommodation, security, catering, etc.). In the end, these operations accounted for only 18% of the carbon footprint, thanks to greater efforts than planned, for example in terms of energy (using the electricity grid instead of generators) or by favouring the rental of certain equipment. However, travel proved to be a greater burden than expected, accounting for 53% of the total carbon footprint. "We broke ticket sales records, so we had more spectators than we initially planned," stressed Georgina Grenon. Among these were more non-European spectators (12.1% of the total): just as many Americans, Brazilians and Canadians came by plane and therefore emitted a lot of CO2 to get here. The organisers had also committed to funding projects that would avoid emitting a large amount of CO2, such as clean cooking systems in Africa and solar power plants in Senegal and Vietnam. "We have committed to reducing plastic by half compared to previous games," Georgina Grenon said.