Climate Coach: Paris 2024 Olympics works towards being socially, environmentally responsible

For Games Wide Open, Paris Olympics 2024 has pledged to be responsible.

One can witness evidence of this as the cycling lanes, accessibility of the venues by public transport and efforts to encourage the use of public transport clearly push for the Games’ environmental goals in the city wearing a festive look.

A big task for Paris 2024 organisers is living up to its promise of reducing the carbon footprints by half in comparison to the previous Games.

While the previous Summer Games emitted an average of 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, Paris 2024, adopting a renewed approach – involving steps such as anticipate, avoid, reduce, offset and mobilise – has been working on not exceeding 1.5 million tonnes of emission. Low-carbon structures, renewable energy, sustainable catering are steps in this regard.

The major contribution in this has been using 95 per cent of existing or temporary infrastructure. Reuse of existing structures is a feature which was also found in the 1924 Games.

For the current edition, while the Saint Denis swimming pool, which is the only new venue for the Games, has seen the use of biodegradable materials, the Games Village has been designed to make do without air-conditions and use geothermal and solar energy. Besides, massive plantations around it is one of the steps to limit carbon footprints.

Later, the new buildings, the Games Village and the swimming venue, will be used by the public. While the Village, developed on an industrial wasteland, will be used for social housing, the swimming complex for 12000 people to live and work will be a multi-sport facility for the local people.

At the end of the Games, all materials and structures installed on a temporary basis will be repurposed, reused or recycled.

“Paris 2024 has launched its own ‘Climate Coach,’ an app designed to help its employees recognise and reduce their personal and professional carbon footprint. It is also encouraging its partners and suppliers to apply sustainability and limit their climate impact for 100 per cent of Games purchases as part of its Responsible Procurement Strategy.”

For those emissions that cannot be avoided, the organising Committee has chosen to finance projects that will help combat global warming while providing co-benefits for local populations and biodiversity.For those emissions that cannot be avoided, the organising Committee has chosen to finance projects that will help combat global warming while providing co-benefits for local populations and biodiversity.

These include reforestation, forest preservation and renewable energy development projects.

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On the front of being socially responsible, the organisers have prepared the Paris 2024 Social Charter, the first ever in the history of Olympics, which underlines its goals to be economically, socially and environmentally responsible with thrust on sustainability.

The 16 commitments of the Social Charter aim to promote decent working conditions – a problem area in several big sporting events in the past – encourage occupational integration of vulnerable groups and ensure that companies and representatives from the Social Solidarity Economy (businesses which strive to reconcile economic prosperity with social justice) can access project contracts.

“The Games are expected to have employed more than 181,000 people. Between 2018 and 2022, some 90 per cent of suppliers to Paris 2024 were French, while 75 per cent were small and medium-sized businesses,” said the Games website.

“With the backing of various public partners, Paris 2024 set up an endowment fund for social innovation. Impact 2024 supports projects that use sport to promote health, well-being, education, inclusion, equality and environmental improvements.

“More than 1,000 projects have shared in the EUR 38.7 million of funding distributed since 2020.”

Obviously, all these steps by Paris 2024 set a new benchmark not only for future Olympic Games but also for any big sporting events to be socially more responsible.