The 2024 Olympics in Paris aspired to be the first Games ever to be fully aligned with Paris Agreement - but can the world's biggest international sporting event ever really be considered sustainable? From incredible eco-design decisions to the energy and food choices made with the planet in mind, to the burden of private aviation and wasteful merchandise and athleisure, we're taking a metaphorical dive into the bold claims, innovative steps and downright failures associated with Paris 2024.
References from the episode:
British Association for Sustainable Sport: https://basis.org.uk/2024/07/26/paris-2024-the-greenest-games-ever/
Designing the aquatics centre: https://www.ribaj.com/intelligence/making-buildings-paris-olympic-aquatics-centre-costs-flexible-design
https://aurorasolar.com/blog/2024/04/17/the-2024-paris-olympics-solars-role/
Coca-cola's soda fountain greenwashing: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/07/greenwash-games-french-public-points-finger-at-coca-cola-over-olympics-plastic-waste
Plastic: https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/blog/2024/8/20/are-efforts-to-green-the-olympic-games-enough
Offsetting and clean energy: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/energy-transition/072324-feature-paris-olympics-to-lean-heavily-on-offsets-clean-power-to-hit-carbon-targets
Get in touch
Follow us on social media for updates and behind-the-scenes content between episodes, and get in touch to share your Listener Question, One Good Thing, and suggest episode topics. Feel free also to shower us with praise, we're fine with that too. We're on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, or you can email forwhatitsearthpod@gmail.com.
While you're here, subscribe so you never miss an episode, and leave us a 5-star review to help new listeners find us!
Support the show:
Treat yourself to something from our range of organic cotton goodies, from teeshirts to tote bags: https://forwhatitsearth.teemill.com/
Help us cover the pod's running costs with a one-off donation or sign up for monthly support (as little as the cost of a cup of coffee goes a long way) using Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/forwhatitsearthpodcast
For What It’s Earth is hosted and produced by Emma Brisdion and Sophie Pavelle, and edited and mixed by Mark Skinner (2024).