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≡ SUSTAINABILITY ≡
One of the legacies of the 12-year term of International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach (GER) will be the emphasis on sustainability in the conduct of the Olympic Games, and of the IOC itself.
Bach explained this once again, in some detail, during an online question-and-answer session with the 100 Young Reporters project, organized by the International Sports Journalists Association (AIPS), celebrating its centennial in 2024.
Moderated from Olympic House in Lausanne by AIPS President Gianni Merlo (ITA), the long-time correspondent for Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport, Bach was asked specifically about the concept of a multi-nation Olympic Games bid from Africa, in order to have the Games on the last continent which has not hosted one.
Bach carefully explained how the IOC’s concern for sustainability would impact such a decision:
“The distribution of the sites does not necessarily mean that it’s more sustainable.
“It can have even a counterproductive effect on sustainability, if you are considering the emissions being caused by transportation, by logistics of teams, of spectators, by tripling the number of people to be employed in organizing committees and so on. So diversification of sites is not equal to sustainability.
“What is important for a sustainable organization is first of all the number of sites rather than spreading the sites. Because construction is causing the most emissions and new construction always has to take into account the legacy of the relevant venues and stadiums.
“This is why in the IOC, we are taking the approach which is the most preventive for emissions, that is to make use of existing facilities. Then if you don’t have existing facilities, go for temporary facilities, and only if temporary facilities are for one reason or another, not possible – what is, according to state of the art, technology, almost impossible – only then start to diversify.
“We saw this concept in Paris, either existing or temporary facilities, resulting in a 50% reduction of the emissions compared to previous Olympic Games and at the same time, by keeping them closer together, enhancing the Olympic spirit, this feeling of togetherness and not having three different competitions in three different places.”
And, asked specifically about a future Olympic Games in Africa, Bach noted:
“We already have the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar 2026.
“If Africa wants to organize Olympic Games, the first thing is to present a proposal. We can then discuss this in our new Olympic host selection process.
“If an African country is showing their interest, we are at their disposal to develop, together with them, the best possible Olympic Project in accordance with their long term development plan for their country and for the youth of their country.”
Bach was also asked about what the biggest challenge of his presidency was; he replied:
“I still have eight more months to go so let’s talk after that. Somebody said the other day ‘don’t put me in a museum yet’. There is still some work to do and to accomplish.”
He will leave office in June of 2025, after his successor is elected at the IOC Session in Greece next March.
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While Bach’s “Olympic Agenda 2020″ and “Olympic Agenda 2020+5″ paved the way for an Olympic Games held in more than one city, or even one country, and pointed to the importance of controlling costs and increasing sustainability through the use of less construction, the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) pointed to another issue of major impact.
Business and fan travel.
In a 16 October post on the calculation of CO2 emissions in snow sports, a new FIS CO2 calculator, available to event organizers and to national ski associations worldwide.
Included was a look at a 2023 report on FIS’s own conduct and total emissions – “considering electricity, natural gas, business travel, commuting, fleet travel, waste, water, partial purchased goods & services, transmission and distribution losses, and partial downstream transportation” totaled the equivalent of 2,161.7 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from:
● 56.9% (1,229.2 tons): business travel
● 32.0% (692.6 tons): procurement
● 9.2% (198.2 tons): fleet travel
● 1.9% (41.7 tons): everything else
“Procurement” refers to emissions related to goods and services that were purchased.
FIS also made a calculation on the total seasonal impact of 177 events in Alpine, Cross Country, Freestyle, Nordic Combined, Ski Jumping and Snowboard and other events. The total was 58,600.0 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), with one element above all others:
● 88.9% (52,107.7 tons): participant travel
● 5.0% (2,938.5 tons): food
● 4.9% (2,856.1 tons): utilities
● 1.2% (697.7 tons): everything else
The biggest factor in the travel category was not the competitors, but the fans, estimated at 465,637.6 tons or 85.9% of the participant travel total. The study noted:
“Emissions were estimated assuming 10% travel by train, 80% by car, and 10% by plane. For international events outside Europe, 100% were assumed to fly.”
Wow. So, should fans be eliminated? Not according to the athletes, who savored the Paris Olympic experience of having spectators back in the venues after a no-fans Olympic Games in 2021 in Tokyo, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In terms of sustainability, it’s a substantial problem without a good solution.
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