PARIS (AP) — Of all decisions Paris Olympics organizers decided where to hold each sport, sending surfing competitions to the other side of the world – in the Pacific waters of Tahiti – provoked the strongest reactions. Tahitians and others protested the construction of a new observation tower in Teahupo’o Reef for fear it would harm marine life.
But organizers say it wasn’t just the world-class waves that drew them to French territory, 16,000 kilometers (9,942 miles) away. Paris Olympic authorities have set an ambitious target of halving their global carbon footprint compared to the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics.
Tahiti surf reef is too far from the coast for fans to clearly see the action from the beach, so organizers say they calculated that most would watch on television rather than take flights, an important source of carbon emissions.
And fewer spectators, they said, would require little new construction, another major source of emissions.
“We actually did the math,” said Georgina Grenon, director of environmental excellence at the Paris Games. “There was less impact in Tahiti compared to other metropolitan areas.”
Tahiti’s selection provides a window into the Games organizers’ approach to achieving their emissions reduction target, the driver of of Climate Change. It also highlights a tension inherent in the search for sustainability: there are trade-offs and reducing emissions does not necessarily mean preserving the environment.
The organizers’ goal is to limit emissions to 1.58 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent for the period from July 26 to August. 11 Games and Paralympics that follow. That’s still a lot of pollution — equal to that of about 1.3 million economy class passengers flying from New York to Paris on Boeing 787 jets, according to myclimate, a climate and sustainability consultancy.
It is much less, however, than the footprint of previous Games.
Organizers say they are thinking about the future of the Games, not just the planet. Fewer cities are volunteering to spend billions on infrastructure that sometimes falls into disrepair. Paris and next host Los Angeles in 2028 were the only cities left in the race when chosen in 2017. For organizers, it is essential to hold Games with less waste, in addition to including more inclusive events aimed at young people, such as skateboarding.
Paris is under additional pressure to be a sustainable model: the hosted city the 2015 UN climate negotiations, which resulted in the Paris Agreement, the most significant international climate agreement to date. Delegates agreed that the world should limit the average global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above the 1850s and, ideally, limit it to 1.5 degrees (2.7 Fahrenheit) – a goal which seems increasingly unattainable.
Independent experts say Paris appears to be decarbonizing in the systematic way companies do: they calculate total emissions and then start reducing, including myriad small CO2 savings that add up significantly. Organizers targeted reductions in three categories: construction, transportation and operations.
“They seem to be taking a very considered approach,” said Adam Braun of Clarasight, which develops carbon planning software for companies. “They are trying to do something that indicates how many organizations will take responsibility.”
The biggest departure from previous Games is in the construction. Organizers say 95% of the facilities already exist or will be temporary. Two new structures were considered inevitable: the Olympic Village, to house athletes and, later, become housing and office spaceand the aquatic center in the deprived northern suburbs of Paris.
Using wood, low-carbon cement and reclaimed materials helped reduce emissions by 30% compared to traditional methods, Grenon said.
Reductions in operations include food. The average meal in France – whether prepared in a restaurant or at home – produces around 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of CO2, said Philipp Würz, head of catering for the Games. Paris aims to halve this figure by sourcing 80% of ingredients locally, reducing transport emissions and offering spectators 60% plant-based food.
Winning minds, as well as taste buds, can take work. “Locally grown food and supporting local farmers are beautiful things,” said tennis player Victoria Azarenka. But “when people make these grand gestures, I’m not entirely convinced of the impact,” she added of Paris’s global climate efforts.
Another source of saving emissions is energy. Energy will account for just 1% of emissions, organizers said. They aim to use 100% renewable energy from wind and solar farms, as well as solar panels in some locations.
Stadiums and temporary facilities will be powered by the grid instead of diesel generators, which produce a lot of CO2. Giant electrical plugs at venues will remain after the Games, eliminating the need for generators at future events.
Reducing transport-related emissions is undoubtedly Paris’ biggest challenge. Tourism authorities expect 15.3 million visitors to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, including 1.9 million from outside France, with at least 850,000 taking long-haul flights.
In Paris, there are low-carbon transport options – cycling routesMetro trains, buses and other public transport – to all locations.
But the inability to control how people arrive at the Olympics, or any major event, raises questions about whether humanity can sustain such gatherings at the cost of further climate damage.
“Maybe things like the Olympics need to be reconsidered,” said Seth Warren Rose of the Eneref Institute, an advocacy and research group focused on sustainable development. “Having millions of people gathered in a single area is very intense.”
Rose said the organizers’ efforts are commendable, but they should have gone further – reducing emissions by more than half and finding more ways to make sustainability a central experience for fans.
Some critics also questioned some sponsors. Air France, port operator CMA CGM Group and metals giant ArcelorMittal are leaders in carbon-intensive industries. On their websites, they all publicize their Olympic sponsorship and sustainability efforts.
The Upright Project, a Finnish company that creates and analyzes data to assess companies’ impact on the world, looked to sponsors, assigning scores for positive and negative impacts on the environment, health, jobs and other metrics.
On the environment, sponsors’ emissions had a tenfold negative global impact.
“I think the current sustainability discourse, where we effectively celebrate the tiny sustainability tweaks and greenwashing efforts of companies as if they actually make a difference in climate change, is extremely harmful,” said Annu Nieminen of the Upright Project, in a statement. “If Paris 2024 sponsors are celebrated by organizers for their ‘sustainability’, this contributes to the same harmful discourse.”
In a statement, organizers said the Games present “a unique opportunity to encourage partner companies to adopt more responsible practices”.
For the emissions it cannot cut, Paris plans to compensate – a practice called offsetting. Planting trees, for example, could help remove CO2 introduced by the Games from the atmosphere. But offsetting markets are not well regulated and investigations by news organizations have revealed that some projects are fraudulent, while others miscalculated the amount of emissions captured.
Organizers say they will continue to adapt sustainability plans as they move forward, including those in Tahiti. The metal judging tower, which replaced the old wooden tower that Tahiti previously used to host surfing competitions, has been reduced in size in response to concerns about environmental damage, organizers say. Completed earlier this year, the tower will be dismantled after the Games. It will be erected and used again when Teahupo’o holds world surfing events.
Organizers say they are expecting around 1,300 people with Olympic accreditation on the island, including 500 flying in. This total, probably much smaller than if the competition took place off the coast of France, includes surfers, judges, journalists and Games workers.
“We say sustainability is a team sport,” said Grenon. “Will everything be perfect? No, right? We can’t say that. We are still working very, very hard to go as far as we can.”
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Prengaman reported from New York. Howard Fendrich and Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.
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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
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