Paris Olympics to lean heavily on offsets, clean power to hit carbon targets
Paris 2024's goal to halve its carbon footprint -- across scope 1, 2 and 3 categories -- is benchmarked against recent editions of the Games, which are assumed to have caused 3.5 million mtCO2e of emissions.
The 2024 Paris Olympics is set to rely on carbon offsets to achieve a goal of halving the event's carbon footprint compared with previous editions.
The Paris Games, set to run from July 26 to Aug. 11, will also be powered by renewable assets and not diesel generators, as energy is set to account for less than 5% of its total carbon emissions budget, with biopropane fueling the Olympics flame.
The organizers of the sporting event have already bought 1,472,550 mtCO2 of carbon credits from 13 different projects, data from the 2024 Olympics showed.
The bulk of these are from projects in Africa, ranging from cookstoves, solar power, mangrove restoration, forestry and clean water access. Four are forestry projects in France registered under the Label Bas Carbone -- or Low Carbon Label -- while the remaining nine are a mix of offsets endorsed by Gold Standard and Verra's Verified Carbon Standard.
This compares with the Tokyo Olympics, which used 4.38 million mtCO2e in offsets under domestic Japanese emissions trading programs to achieve its climate commitments.
Halve emissions
Paris 2024's goal to halve its carbon footprint -- across sc( article continues at S&P Global )