Greenpeace analysis shows that climate protection at the 2024 Olympics remains just a slogan
Destroyed coral reefs, foundations weighing tons on the seabed and the biggest climate polluters among the corporations as major sponsors - no talk of soft or even "green" games.
Ursula Bittner, Greenpeace spokesperson in Austria: "The organizing committee promised in advance that this year's Olympic Games would be the greenest Games ever. But in Paris, many of the climate protection measures that were touted were only half-heartedly implemented or even revised. The result is nothing more than greenwashing."
The sponsors
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are sponsored by major corporations such as Air France, Toyota and Coca-Cola and are therefore characterized by greenwashing and environmental destruction. Air France produces the third most CO2 in Europe's aviation sector, Toyota generated almost twice as many emissions as the whole of France in 2022, and Coca-Cola is the world's biggest plastic waste producer. The sponsors are using the high-profile stage of the Olympic Games while contributing to the climate crisis on a daily basis.
The competitions
For this year's Olympic surfing competitions in Tahiti, a 14-metre-high judges' tower was built off the coast despite the existing infrastructure. For the four-day competitions, foundations were drilled into the seabed and concrete blocks weighing several tons were lowered onto them. The organizers of Paris 2024 have thus destroyed a valuable ecosystem.
The power of games
More than 15 million spectators flock to the competition venues throughout France, around 45,000 volunteers are deployed around the mega-event and several billion TV viewers watch the Summer Games in Paris.
The Olympic Games have the power to inspire billions of people. They must therefore serve as a role model for sustainable events and avoid environmental damage instead of sacrificing it for sporting events. Greenpeace demands that the Olympic Games renounce environmentally harmful sponsors in future and promote ambitious measures for sustainable sporting events.
You can find the Greenpeace analysis at: https://act.gp/4dg1vDd
