Paris Olympics organizers say event was far less polluting than recent Games
The Paris Olympics says it was far less polluting than recent Games but is not claiming to have been "carbon neutral" despite funding projects to compensate for its emissions.
Organizers said Wednesday that this summer's Olympics and Paralympics generated 1.59 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide, from the food athletes ate and construction of their rooms to flights that spectators took and energy that powered events.
According to a French government carbon-impact calculator, 1.59 million tons of CO2 is equivalent to driving a car 182,675 times around the globe or 898,305 return flights between Paris and New York.
Still, Paris Games organizers said they more than met their goal of slashing the Olympics' pollution footprint by half — announcing a 54.6 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to the London Olympics in 2012 and the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
Here's a look at how they did it and tips they offered to future hosts, starting with the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and the next Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
Paris organizers said thinking about carbon emissions far in advance of the Games and setting a reduction target were key. Those who led the task of planning and organizing the mega-event were given carbon budgets. Measures to slash emissions were built into plans from the start.
"To change things, we had to reinvent," said Georgina Grenon, the Games' director of environmental excellence.
Just as athletes seek ways to shave milliseconds off their times, Paris organizers sought not just big carbon savings — by building just one competition venue specifically for the Games — but smaller ones, too.
The Olympic cauldron used electricity and LED spotlights to give the impression of