By Kristen Anderson, Production Coordinator

During those weeks that all eyes were focused on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, I came across a personal story that intersected my love of sports and travel, my work and my passion for sustainability.

A friend of mine had traveled to the Olympic Games to watch his sister compete in the Women’s Cross Country Mountain Biking events. Not only was his sister, Hayley Batten, able to take home the Silver Medal for Team USA, but their family rode bikes EVERYWHERE while they were there. They biked all throughout the Île-de-France region to get to and from races and sightseeing excursions. This kind of transportation can really add up when you think about the number of people who travel to the Olympics’ destination cities. 

As a Production Coordinator and passionate advocate for sustainability, I’m often thinking about the impact the events I work on have on the destination communities – both environmentally and socially. I feel empowered to make a change in this industry through the support from my team at George P Johnson and our clients. From selecting vendors and venues to the creative problem solving every team member brings to the table, we’re able to create meaningful experiences for our clients that also consider their impact.

Growing up in a mountain town in Colorado, my childhood education really focused on the effects of global warming, and caring about the planet has stuck with me throughout my life. 

As I am now beginning my professional career, I realize that how I grew up gives me a unique outlook on the importance of sustainability in events. I’m fortunate to be a part of a workplace that cares just as much about the environment and its people as I do, while continuing to push for creative solutions in our industry. 

Seeing what my friend and his family were able to accomplish on bicycles, I was inspired to take a look at what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee are doing to incorporate sustainability into the planning and execution of the Olympic Games.

As GPJ recently celebrated the ISO20121 certification of it’s offices in Germany, it was enlightening to see that the IOC has been working closely with this governing body to not only receive ISO 20121 certification for corporate events but also spearheaded the enhancements of the ISO 20121 standards that were approved in February of 2024. 

I broke down the main areas of event sustainability (across environmental, social, and economic factors) and found that the priorities of Paris 2024’s sustainability strategy aligns a great deal with GPJ practices and goals – something I am proud to boast.

Carbon Impact

The Paris 2024 games will aim to reduce emissions by 50%, (compared to the London 2012 and Rio 2016 average) in alignment with the Paris Agreement. The IOC has stated “the event will account for all carbon emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3), encompassing direct, indirect and spectator travel emissions” (IOC). From my experience collecting and analyzing carbon data for corporate events, this is a challenging task for a 15,000 attendee event (and I am thankful to my peers who support me in this endeavor). I can’t begin to imagine the amount of data required to capture all of the emissions for the Olympic Games.

Venue

Approximately 95% of structures for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are existing or temporary structures built with circularity in mind. The IOC states, “this initiative is crucial in contributing to reducing the Games carbon footprint by half and aligns with the IOC’s recommendation to minimize new construction” (IOC). In a recent event I calculated emissions for, I noted that the use of pre-existing structures and assets (e.g., registration desks, kiosks and props) significantly reduced our production emissions. The remaining 5% of venues that have been constructed for Paris 2024 respond to local needs. Construction of these new structures incorporated requirements such as including a minimum of 30% French wood, designing for the estimated climate conditions in 2050, and including native plant species in public spaces.

Energy

Paris 2024 will use 100% locally sourced renewable energy to power the games. The IOC states “15% of the future neighborhood’s electricity consumption will be covered through photovoltaic energy from solar panels on rooftops” of the Olympic Village (IOC). The Olympic Village was specifically designed to incorporate a geothermal cooling system instead of traditional air conditioning. While in theory this is a great advancement for emissions reductions, the warming climate, specifically a 3C increase in average temperatures since Paris hosted in 1924, has pushed organizers to allow teams to purchase their own portable cooling units after backlash from international teams. As of early July, approximately 2,500 cooling units had been purchased (Frost, R). This is a great example of how efforts to introduce sustainability may take time to be entirely successful; it is important to remember to prioritize attendee wellbeing. 

Transportation

As alluded to earlier, Paris 2024 has developed a robust transportation plan to reduce Scope 1 and 3 emissions where possible. All Paris 2024 venues are accessible by public transport; noting from my summer Internship in Paris back in 2022 that the public transportation is incredibly reliable. 80% of venues are located within a 10km radius of the Olympic Village and 88 km of new protected routes were added in addition to bicycle parking at all competition venues in the Île-de-France region. This year, there has been a 37% reduction in the Olympic fleet compared to previous Games. The fleet is also utilizing electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles (IOC).

Food & Beverage

This was an area that piqued my interest the most, as the intentional menu design contributed to significant estimated emissions savings. “The amount of plant-based food for spectators will be doubled to halve the carbon footprint of meals” stated the IOC (IOC). Further, Paris 2024 has implemented a 50% reduction in single-use plastics in addition to the reuse of 100% of catering equipment and infrastructure after the Games. 

Social Engagement

Sustainability not only encompasses the environmental and economic impact, but also the social impact. Understanding how an event impacts everyone from the attendees to staff to the local community is important to consider. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are the first games in history to have full gender parity on the field – only possible due to an equal quota of places for female and male athletes by the IOC for the first time this year.

The Terre de Jeux program at the Paris Olympics has inspired over 50,000 sports-related projects since 2019. The goal of this project is to promote physical activity and sports within communities around France – something I was able to see first-hand during my internship with a sports technology company in Paris the summer of 2022. The company I worked with promoted a gamified challenge through their app and awarded those from different communities around France with the top scores. These initiatives are key to building a lasting, positive legacy from the Olympic Games in the destination country. 

I am truly grateful to George P Johnson and my mentors for their invaluable guidance and support. I am excited to continue learning and expanding my knowledge on sustainability, and I look forward to applying this knowledge to make a meaningful impact on future events.