The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris has ended and as the organisers promised, the games and its upcoming Paralympic counterpart have raised the bar for sustainability. When it comes to the Summer Games, with 800 sporting events, 15,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, and 13 million meals, the scale of the edition’s sustainability ambitions was immense, a challenge the organisers described as humanity’s “greatest.”
These games were hailed as the greenest in Olympic history, with Paris 2024 pledging to halve the event’s carbon footprint compared to the average of previous summer games. The goal was to limit emissions to around 1.75 million metric tons of CO2, a significant reduction from the average 3.5 million metric tons emitted by previous summer Olympics like Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016, and London 2012.
Achieving lower emissions than Tokyo’s games, which had no spectators due to COVID-19, was particularly remarkable.
The Paris 2024 sustainability strategy also incorporated offsets, investing in environmental and social projects globally. Reuse and recycling played a central role, with 95% of the venues being existing buildings or temporary infrastructure. The Stade de France, originally built for the 1998 football World Cup, hosted most events. Only one new competition venue, the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, was built for the 2024 Games. This solar-powered facility utilised natural bio-based building materials and recycled components.
The Athletes’ Village generated energy from geothermal and solar power. For biodiversity, rooftops were equipped to house insects and birds, and nearly 9,000 trees were planted to attract various species. The 2,800 Olympic apartments were slated for conversion into homes after the games.
Sustainable travel and food choices were also prioritised. Paris made 3,000 additional pay-as-you-go bikes available, and most Olympic venues were accessible by public transport, catering to the 15 million visitors who attended the games. Organisers doubled plant-based meal options and halved single-use plastics.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2024 highlighted the significance of these environmentally friendly options for climate action. Collective efforts, like those seen in Paris 2024, were recognised as capable of altering market dynamics and mitigating climate change. The report identified environmental risks, including extreme weather events and biodiversity loss, as some of the most pressing global concerns by 2034. The actions taken during the Paris Games, though individual, contributed to a larger, critical mass of global risk reduction.
The legacy of this iteration’s four-yearly athletic spectacular will be dissected and examined as thousands of fans return to their homes throughout the globe. This year, the announcement that the athletes would dine in the 3,500-seat Athletes Village from a menu primarily featuring vegetarian and vegan options, served by the French company Sodexo Live!, grabbed headlines.
This aligns with the Paris 2024 strategy, which seeks to reduce the carbon impact of culinary services by half. This accounts for the projected 40,000 meals prepared using primarily French produce and other energy-friendly agricultural fare like beans, vegetables, and fruit, according to the organisation’s website.
In keeping with their 128-year tradition, the organisers of the Games said that they will power the event using local energy infrastructure rather than diesel-guzzling generators, a move that would deepen their commitment to the environment.
They decided to keep generators as a backup only in case the energy systems broke down. The Olympics website says, “After the Games, these new connections will benefit future events as well, helping cut the sector’s carbon emissions.”
The Paris Olympics organisers declared that they only used sustainable energy, including two solar farms and six wind farms supplied by the public utility EDF. The move away from diesel is already having an effect; according to French media, the 2024 Los Angeles Olympic organisers were considering a similar energy strategy.
Reusing and recycling 95% of existing athletic facilities will save the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris a great deal of money instead of requiring the construction of new facilities.
According to financial organisation S&P Global Ratings’ economic forecasts, this year’s Olympics will cost 8.9 billion euros, making it the most affordable version of the event in 20 years.
Large-scale events can frequently create a strain on the host nation or city, but Paris was well-prepared for this: 95% of its Olympic sites were already built, just needing minor renovations, while the remaining venues were temporary.