- Planet Earth Games

How Sustainable are the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

July 25 , 2024

will the sporting showpiece be the greenest ever

With the Opening Ceremony on Friday (26 July) of Paris 2024, focus will soon be upon the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is the biggest event in the world and will hold the attention of billions across the planet. But how sustainable will it be?

This year’s Games are, according to the organisers, going to be the “greenest in the event’s history”, and potentially will set a new standard for sustainability in sports events. This commitment to environmental responsibility presents an excellent opportunity to showcase eco-friendly practices on a global scale, hopefully inspiring positive change in future large-scale sporting events.

With roughly 800 Olympic sporting events on the horizon, and with Paris set to welcome 15,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, and millions of spectators, the organisers have a tall order ahead of them. Let’s look at how their sustainability ambitions shape up and what, if successful, they could mean for the planet.

The Green Vision of Paris 2024

Paris 2024 has made sustainability a crucial pillar of its Olympic strategy, recognising the unique opportunity to educate the world about environmental responsibility. The organising committee's ambitious goals include halving the event's carbon footprint compared to previous Summer Games, limiting emissions to 1.58 million tonnes of CO2, using low-carbon construction methods and materials, promoting circularity, encouraging sustainable travel and public transport, enhancing local ecosystems, and increasing plant-based food availability. These initiatives demonstrate a comprehensive approach to sustainability that could set a new standard for future large-scale events.

Reimagining Olympic Venues

Paris 2024's approach to competition venues prioritises sustainability and emissions reductions. With 95% of venues either pre-existing or temporary, the Olympic organisers are minimising new construction and its associated environmental impact. The use of sustainable or recyclable materials in new buildings, along with logical uses for reusable and recyclable materials like steel and concrete blocks for traffic management, further reduces the Games' ecological footprint. This thoughtful approach to venue planning could inspire future event organisers to prioritise sustainability in their infrastructure decisions.

Let’s look at two prominent examples of permanent construction projects that look to benefit Paris in the long run.

The Aquatics Centre

The solar-powered Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis exemplifies Paris 2024's commitment to sustainable construction. Built using natural bio-based and recyclable materials, it's the only permanent competition venue constructed specifically for the Games. This project demonstrates how renewable energy and eco-friendly materials can be incorporated into large-scale facilities, potentially inspiring similar approaches for research, development and funding for future sports venue construction.

The Olympic/Athletes' Village

The Olympic and Paralympic Village in Seine Saint Denis showcases long-term sustainability planning. This geothermal and solar-powered residential complex will house athletes during the Games and later be converted into permanent homes. With 9,000 trees planted to attract wildlife, the village demonstrates how large-scale housing projects can integrate sustainability and biodiversity considerations, providing a model for future urban development.