The Paris Olympics ended on Aug. 11, and what a spectacle it was. After the COVID-19 pandemic sabotaged the 2020 Olympics — delaying them until 2021 — and played behind closed doors, the 2024 Games redeemed them. The United States and China tied for 40 gold medals each, but the U.S. totaled 126 medals earned. The country dominated gymnastics, several track and field events, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s soccer.
While the story of the Olympics was about the athleticism and renewed sense of patriotism in some fans, the Paris Games were some of the most eco-friendliest. A seven-year planning period produced some solid environmental initiatives, all with varying degrees of success.
The Paris 2024 committee pledged to produce a lower carbon footprint than the London and Rio Games. According to the World Economic Forum, the goal was to keep emissions under or at 1.75 million metric tons. That meant using less fossil fuels, using more plant-based food for athletes, reducing fan waste, and cleaning up pollution.
The Paris Olympic Committee cooked up a master plan to track emissions years before the event. This sustainability plan earned the French capital the honor of host city.
It focused on forward-looking metrics across various sectors (e.g., construction, biodiversity, and mass transit). The approach was to anticipate, avoid, mitigate, offset, and catalyze action.
Photo Courtesy Xavier Praillet
“Along with all our stakeholders, we decided to seize the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as an opportunity to increase the reach of sport in people’s lives and come up with a new model for organizing major events,” Tony Estanguet, head of the organizing committee, said in a message in the sustainability plan.
Construction was kept to a minimum. Rather than build new facilities, Paris chose to maximize its existing sports complexes. Temporary structures were utilized, too. Only three new facilities had to be built: the Aquatics Center, the Porte de La Chapelle arena for badminton and gymnastics, and the Olympic Village in the suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis. The Aquatics Center is becoming a children’s educational center, and the Olympic Village will become a residential area.
The beds used in the village were made with fully recyclable cardboard frames. These beds were also used in the Tokyo Games in 2021, though some hypothesized other reasons for their use. No air conditioning was installed at the Olympic Village, saving money on energy and keeping emissions lower. However, it was not the most comfortable situation for some athletes.
Renewable energy was deployed where it could be. According to Trellis, Paris already runs on low-carbon electricity — 78% from nuclear power and 19% from renewables. All venues were connected to these sources for the games, and diesel generators were outlawed. The Olympic torch was lit by biopropane. Energy generation was set to account for around 5% of total emissions, a massive achievement.
The most monumental campaign was the Seine River cleanup. It cost nearly $1.5 billion to clear the waterway for the triathlon event.
Anne Hildagio, Paris’ mayor, even took a dip in the river to show the progress of the cleanup. Despite some setbacks, they managed to get it clean enough for the triathlon. The hope is this will inspire further cleaning of the Seine.
Public transit was utilized heavily for the games. Most arenas were within a six-mile radius of the nearest public transportation spot. There were 34 miles of cycling lanes to ride to the events and a 30-minute trip from the Olympic Village to most venues. Committee members selectively used cars, mainly hybrids or electric.
In one instance, the skaters competing in the skateboard event suffered a bus breakdown en route to the skatepark. In true skater fashion, they all got off the bus and skated to the venue, about a mile’s travel distance.
Photo Courtesy Qi Li
Other initiatives include more plant-based meals for athletes, using reusable cups, repurposing athletic equipment for second lives, donating leftover food to charity and biofuel, and carbon credit projects involving tree planting in Africa and Latin America.
Some eyebrows were raised when the surfing competition was held outside Paris — not just outside the city but a whole continent away.
Surfing took place in Tahiti, a member of French Polynesia. Though Tahiti has one of the best surfing spots in the world, there was some concern about constructing the judging tower, which was built on top of a coral reef.
Some believed inner-city surfing could’ve been utilized in the Seine. The organizers insisted Tahiti was the most sustainable option because most competitors hailed from Australia and western North America. The travel time to French Polynesia was less taxing on the planet than going to France.
Ideally, this sustainability plan sets a standard for future games. The 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will have to meet similar criteria. Perhaps this will be the catalyst to advance L.A.’s public transportation system.
