The challenge of minimizing travel emissions for the Olympic Games is “a matter that sports events should consistently question themselves,” stated the leading sustainability officer for Paris 2024, as travel accounted for over half of all total emissions and raised apprehensions for upcoming events.
Paris presented this year’s Olympics as the most environmentally friendly yet, halving the average carbon footprint from London 2012 and Rio 2016, thereby setting a benchmark for forthcoming Games in Los Angeles and Brisbane.
Despite notable accomplishments in emission reductions, travel-related pollution surpassed initial estimates by nearly 60 per cent, according to the official post-Games report. This figure includes trips taken by spectators, athletes, and delegates to and within Paris and other event locations.
The greenhouse gases associated with travel were over 830,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, or approximately 360,000 round-trip economy flights from New York to Paris.
Although it invested in carbon offset initiatives like providing gas cookstoves to impoverished regions to replace charcoal, the Games opted not to include these in any debatable “carbon neutral” calculations.
Georgina Grenon, the sustainability director for Paris 2024, mentioned that “individuals coming from New York via plane” had overshadowed efforts to diminish travel emissions through initiatives such as encouraging cycling and enhancing public transport connections between venues, as well as promoting neighboring national teams to travel by train and providing ticket packages to motivate spectators to attend multiple events.
Grenon noted that the emissions produced by a long-haul traveler equated to those generated by 1,000 local attendees.
The international long-haul flights of spectators headed to Paris accounted for nearly a third of the total emissions of the Games, with US travelers alone contributing close to 17 percent.
Grenon attributed the minimized estimation of travel emissions to unprecedented ticket sales, especially in the final moments.
The dilemma of pollution-heavy international travel “extends beyond the Olympics in general,” she stated, with organizers emphasizing that the increase in travel to France was consistent with global trends post-pandemic.
“We need to be highly aware of the consequences of all human activities,” said Grenon.
Experts indicated that a gap persists between the conventional goal of record ticket sales for Olympic host cities and the aim of reducing travel emissions.
The Paris Games sold over 12 million tickets, offering at least 1 million more than London 2012.
“I don’t see how [travel emissions] can be decreased if the event hosting approach remains unchanged,” stated David Gogishvili, a senior researcher at the University of Lausanne involved in a climate impact study related to sports funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Transportation was expected to contribute about a third of the carbon footprint for the Paris Games, but it ultimately accounted for 54 percent. It continues to be “a challenge for upcoming Olympics,” said Benja Faecks from the non-profit organization Carbon Market Watch.
Los Angeles, where officials have committed to a “no-car” Olympics in 2028, presents a distinct challenge, with less electric transportation infrastructure compared to Paris, she noted. There are also limited options available aside from flying for non-local spectators traveling to Los Angeles and Brisbane in 2032.
One potential solution proposed was “more geographically diversified editions” of the Games, hosted across multiple continents, according to Faecks.
“The very nature of these [large-scale sporting] events renders them somewhat unsustainable from the onset,” remarked Walker Ross, a sports management lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, highlighting the Olympics’ international focus and the distinct geography of each hosting city.
Ross further explained that “gigantism”, as each event aims to surpass the previous one, poses a continuous challenge for sustainability. “It becomes challenging for the next city to host a lesser event than the one preceding it.”
“Can [the Olympics] be sustainable? No. But can they move towards greater sustainability? Yes,” affirmed Ross.
In total, Paris 2024 emitted greenhouse gases equivalent to 1.59 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, encompassing emissions from food, construction, and energy use, which is 54.6 percent lower than the average emissions from London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Utilizing existing venues and emphasizing low-carbon materials enabled organizers to reduce construction emissions to almost a quarter of the levels seen during London 2012, an accomplishment described by Gogishvili as a “breakthrough achievement.”
With regards to emissions per athlete, also referred to as athletes’ carbon intensity, Paris also demonstrated a substantial reduction compared to previous Games, dropping below half of what was seen in London 2012.
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