The Paris’24 Olympics were less polluted than other recent editions

The Paris Olympics say they are less polluting than other recent onesbut they do not claim to be “carbon neutral” despite funding projects to offset their emissions.

Organizers declared on Wednesday that This summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games generated 1.59 million tons of carbon dioxidefrom the food the athletes ate and the construction of their rooms to the flights spectators took and the energy that fueled the events.

According to a French government carbon impact calculator, 1.59 million tons of CO2 is equivalent to 182,675 trips around the world by car or 898,305 round-trip flights between Paris and New York.

However, organizers of the Paris Games say they have more than achieved their goal of splitting the dirty footprint of the Olympic Games: they announced a 54.6% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the London Olympic Games in 2012 and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016.

Here’s how they did it and the advice they offer to future hosts, starting with the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games and the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Summer Games. Paris organizers say it’s important to think about carbon emissions early in Games and set a reduction target.

Those responsible for planning and organizing the mega-event are allocated carbon budgets. Measures to reduce emissions were built into the plans from the start. “To change things, we have to change ourselves,” said Georgina Grenon, Director of Environmental Quality for the Games.

Just as athletes are looking for ways to shave milliseconds off their times, Paris organizers aren’t just looking for big carbon savings – by building a competition venue specifically for the Games – but also smaller ones.

The Olympic cauldron uses electricity and LED lights to give the impression of burning. he did it”“300 times less pollution than if the gas were burned”Grenon said. Even though Olympic medals include recycled materialseach embedded with a reused piece of the Eiffel Tower.

Electricity covers 98.4% of the Games’ energy needsand organizers say that is guaranteed by a purchase agreement signed with energy supplier EDF all energy is solar or wind. According to organizers, the carbon footprint of the meals served to Games workers and volunteers is half that of a typical French meal.

But transporting spectators to the French capital and to the events had an unexpectedly high carbon cost. Transportation is expected to reach about a third of Paris carbon footprintbut according to the organizers it became the 53%

“We’ve been a bit of a victim of our own success, because We sold more tickets than previously estimated», said Grenon. Just over 66% of viewers came from France. More than 21% came from the rest of Europe and another 12% from further afield, led by viewers from the United States, Brazil and Canada.

For spectators who took long-haul flights, the carbon impact was about 1,000 times greater than for those in the Paris region, organizers said. Paris doesn’t say “carbon neutral.”

The organizers announced that they are spending more than 12 million euros ($12.6 million) in projects in Africa, Asia, Central America and France intended to offset 1.59 million tons of carbon emissions from the Games.

This money has funded thousands of cleaner stoves and access to water in Nigeria, Congo, Kenya and Rwanda, solar energy in Senegal and Vietnam and forestry in Guatemala, Kenya, Senegal and France, according to organizers. But Grenon said that while the projects aim to offset emissions, Paris will not brand its Games as “carbon neutral” because that could be misleading.

“It can give the impression that there is no impact, when there is,” he added. “There was an impact, but we treated it and, more importantly, we reduced it.”.