Did Paris 2024 deliver on its promise of a Games that would be "historic for the climate" and a "break" with previous ones in terms of environmental and sustainability requirements? Mission accomplished, according to the summary of the final report published on Wednesday, December 11, by the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (OCOG) to draw the final assessment of its strategy to "deliver more responsible Games."

The most ambitious objective: to halve the carbon footprint of the Games compared to the average of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 events, estimated at 3.5 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent (teqCO₂). The 2021 Games in Tokyo had been excluded because it was held without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To achieve this, unlike previous Games, Paris 2024 had established in advance a total "carbon budget" not to be exceeded, set at 1.58 million teqCO₂. According to OCOG's calculations, the target was achieved, with a final carbon footprint of 1.59 million teqCO₂, a reduction of 54.6% compared to London and Rio.

However, the organizers had grossly underestimated the greenhouse gas emissions generated by spectator travel: These accounted for 53% of the overall carbon footprint (833,600 teqCO₂), compared with 34% predicted in the initial carbon budget.

With 12.1 million tickets sold (a new record), the Paris Games welcomed more spectators than expected, and in particular non-European spectators who arrived by plane. According to the data in the report, 66.4% of spectators came from France, 21.5% from Europe (UK, Germany, Belgium) and 12.1% from the rest of the world (US, Brazil, Canada). On site, 87% of spectators used public transit or active mobility (cycling, scooters, walking) to get to the event sites.

A report published in June by The Shifters, a nonprofit specializing in the environmental transition, had pointed out this underestimation of emissions linked to foreign visitors. For one of its authors, Paul Delanoë, "The figure of 833,600 teqCO₂ seems inconsistent and too low."

According to the report published by London 2012, transportation-related emissions had reached 900,000 metric tons for just 11 million tickets sold. "How, by selling 10% more tickets and taking no measures to limit the impact of international travel, could emissions have fallen by almost 8%?" Delanoë asked.

You have 60.97% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.