Multi-host model would ‘completely undermine’ Olympics, says IOC sustainability director

LA28 will have an even more ambitious carbon strategy than Paris 2024, Marie Sallois, the Olympic Games’ sustainability chief, tells Dezeen in this interview with Olympic Impact.

Sallois, director of operations and sustainable development at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), described the Paris Olympics as a milestone on the road to net-zero emissions.

“With Paris, we show that we can be sustainable. We are on the right track,” said Sallois.

“I don’t know of many events or sectors that have been able to halve their carbon footprint in 12 years.”

Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games to be held with a carbon budget. The aim is to emit no more than 1.58 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – around half the carbon cost of London 2012 or Rio 2016.

A report published shortly before the start of the Games shows that this ambition is on track.

“Paris 2024 has done its utmost”

“We are convinced that Paris 2024 has achieved the highest possible level at this point in the context of France,” Sallois told Dezeen.

“We have really gone far in implementing the carbon and material footprints. The innovation will leave a legacy in France and probably beyond.”

While Sallois is reluctant to draw direct comparisons between Paris and Los Angeles, which will host the next Summer Olympics in 2028, he indicated that further progress can be expected.

“Each edition targets a certain context with new solutions from the market, so yes, we expect Los Angeles to come up with other innovative solutions,” she said.

The key sustainability measure for Paris 2024 is to build fewer new stadiums and instead focus on temporary structures and existing venues.

LA is following suit and has no plans to build new, permanent stadiums for the 2028 Games.

Sallois pointed to the use of the UCLA campus as an Olympic Village as an example of LA28 going even further than Paris in terms of “radical reuse.”

She also indicated that artificial intelligence could play a role in further reducing emissions.

“There will be some solutions that are not developed enough for Paris that will probably be used more for LA, like artificial intelligence,” she said. “I can’t even tell you how, because it’s still in its infancy, but I’m sure we’ll use it more.”

The IOC aims to make the 2050 Olympic Games a net-zero event, Sallois said.

While she believes the goal is “achievable,” Sallois admits it is based on factors outside the committee’s control.

“We know that we still have a number of challenges to overcome to achieve that goal. These challenges can only be addressed within a broader ecosystem, including sectors that need to transform themselves, such as aviation,” she said.

IOC not considering multi-host model

Air travel is by far the biggest sustainability challenge for the Olympic Games. Around 1.5 million foreign spectators are expected at Paris 2024.

Sustainability campaigners have called on the IOC to adopt a multi-city model for future Games, with events spread across multiple locations, to reduce the number of people who have to fly long distances to attend.

According to Sallois, the IOC has already partially adopted this approach, giving organizers more flexibility over where sporting events are held, reducing the need to build new venues.

For example, Paris 2024 will see events take place in Lille, Marseille and Chateauroux, while the Pacific island of Tahiti, 15,000 kilometres from the French capital, will host surfing events.

“We don’t ask the host to adapt to the Games, we really adapt to the local context,” she explains.

“So we’ve turned the approach around, if you will, meaning that if the host doesn’t necessarily have all the locations, they can partner with another city or region,” she added.

“So the host can be a city, a region, multiple regions, or multiple countries.”

However, Sallois indicated that the IOC is not currently considering making any drastic changes to the current format, which brings together athletes from multiple sports in one city.

She argued that bringing people together from all over the world remains a crucial goal of the Olympic Games.

“It seems like a good idea to have events all over the world, but it completely undermines the idea of ​​bringing people together through the inspirational power of sport,” she said.

“I don’t know of any other event that brings the world together in a peaceful way through sport and celebrates this unity in diversity. That is a very important message of hope, especially at a time when tensions and conflicts are increasing.”

“Don’t think we haven’t thought about this”

She also wondered whether spreading events around the world would ultimately help reduce travel emissions.

“For us, the unique thing about the Olympic Games is that people can come and watch different sports,” said Sallois.

“If they have to go to different locations, it is not more sustainable. So what seems very simple at first is actually much more complex.”

“Don’t think that we haven’t thought about this,” she added. “And that’s why it’s really important for us to build in that flexibility, but maintain that uniqueness and make sure that we really stay within a footprint that shrinks as much as possible.”

In addition to flying, Sallois says more progress is needed in reducing plastic waste.

Paris 2024 has pledged to reduce single-use plastics by 50 percent compared to London 2012. However, spectators are still expected to throw away large quantities of plastic bottles.

“I hope we can do more in the future, but again, we have to rely on the sector as a whole because we depend on many providers,” Sallois said.

Yet she argues that the Olympics are the perfect platform to develop new ways to reduce carbon emissions from human activities.

“We are confident that the Games will continue to be a laboratory for innovation in sustainability,” she said.

This also applies to architecture, which she believes will continue to play an important role during the Games, despite the phasing out of new construction.

“I think there is a big field to explore here: how renovation can aim for more sustainability and at the same time maintain or even enhance this iconic or symbolic dimension,” she said.

Overall, Sallois is optimistic that the Olympic Games can go ahead for a long time, despite the demands placed on tackling climate change.

“I’m really confident,” she said. “It’s not that it’s going to be easy, you know, we’re not undermining the difficulty.”

“But because we work for the Olympic movement, we are also very ambitious. And we feel that through the strength of the brand we can demonstrate that it is achievable.”

“So not only do we want to continue to unite the world, we also want to show how we can do that in a more sustainable way.”

Olympic impact

This article is part of Dezeen’s Olympic Impact series, which examines the sustainability measures being taken by the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and whether major sporting events that respond to the climate challenge are possible.