The Paris Organising Committee 2024 announced its ambitious goal of keeping the event’s carbon footprint to 1.58 tCO2e, around half that of the Rio Olympics in 2016 (3.6 million tCO2e) or the London Olympics in 2012 (3.3 million tCO2e).

“Paris 2024 proposed a concept for a more responsible Games: capitalising on 95% of existing infrastructure or temporary venues, to build less and thus mobilise fewer resources,” stated a press release published on the official Paris 2024 website.

The new buildings were to be built using sustainable materials such as wood and low-carbon concrete. This, according to estimates by the carbon emissions calculation platform Greenly, equates to a footprint per sq m built of 0.7 tCO2e, compared with 1 tCO2e for standard constructions.

For the Olympic Village, Greenly states that “all these measures would have enabled a 30% reduction in emissions compared with an equivalent conventional building”.

The Paris Olympics also opted for more environmentally friendly modes of transport, for example by transporting the rubble used in the construction of the village by river on the Seine, thus avoiding the 3,000 tCO2e that would have been generated by road-based truck transport.

The organising committee also opted to install retractable electrical terminals and reduce the use of diesel generators – saving 13,000 tCO2e, according to Greenly experts.

Although representing a lower carbon footprint than transport or infrastructure, food has not been overlooked. The committee proposed a 50% vegetarian offer on the 13 million meals served during the games, with 80% of the food coming from France.

This could reduce the carbon footprint of each meal by around 51%, from 2.04 kgCO2e to 1 kgCO2e, according to calculations by Greenly.

Really so green?

But the ecological footprint of such a global event is far from green, if only because of the travel required by athletes, spectators and visitors. It’s hard to put a figure on this right now, but it could amount to more than 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, according to experts at Les Shifters, the authors of a report on the subject published in June.

For its part, Greenly estimates this carbon footprint at around 813,000 tCO2e, roughly equivalent to the average annual carbon footprint of around 90,000 French people.

Other logistical aspects of the competition have also come under fire, notably the announcement of the installation of 2,500 mobile air conditioners in the Olympic Village (housing over 10,000 athletes).

More recently, another decision initiated by certain delegations sparked controversy, when 650 tonnes of ice were ordered to ensure the recovery of athletes after the events. It’s a method which, in addition to being highly energy-intensive in terms of production, transport and storage, is far from fruitful and may even prove counterproductive from a physiological point of view.