EY: How is the Olympics Advocating Sustainability in Events?

Nearly 600,000 spectators and 10,500 athletes have flocked to Paris for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games. 

In the coming weeks, more than 14 million more will visit the city to get a glimpse of Olympic and Paralympic glory. 

International sporting events like this are a way of bringing people together to celebrate excellence.

However, building venues and flying spectators from around the world comes at an environmental cost.

The average emissions of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games is 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The goal of the Olympic Movement is to “contribute to building a peaceful and better world”, but this level of emissions has the potential to cause enormous harm to the environment. 

So, how can large sporting events like the Olympics become more sustainable?

Meet Matthew Bell, Global Climate Change Leader at EY

Dr. Matthew J. Bell, Global Climate Change and Sustainability Services Leader at EY, has a wealth of experience in science and government climate and energy policy. 

He has more than 15 years of experience supporting organisational transformation in sustainability.

Across both public and private sectors, Matthew leads teams of specialists across areas including environment, health and safety and sustainability strategy and advice.

As a registered greenhouse auditor and published scientist, he has previously managed some of the UK government’s major research programmes. 

He holds committee memberships for the ACCA Global Sustainability Forum and the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association’s sustainability committee. 

Matthew has a doctorate degree in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering from Warwick HRI. 

Matthew shares his insight on sustainability at large sporting events ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

What are the biggest obstacles to sustainability in sports?

We’ve really got to think about sustainability in two ways when it comes to sports: 

• One perspective you’ve got to think about is how sustainable the sport is itself
• The other consideration is the wider impact and influence the sport has (or can have). 

When we think of sports and athletes, we immediately think about performance, much like we do with businesses. High performance is not only the goal but a requirement in sports. However, performance at any cost, without considering the wider repercussions, is no longer acceptable in today’s world. 

There are several athletes who have also championed initiatives or causes to advance social and environmental sustainability. Ellen MacArthur was once synonymous with sailing, but now her Foundation’s namesake has catapulted circular economy principles in business. Lewis Hamilton may well be the most successful Formula 1 driver, but his voice on diversity and representation in sports has inspired a generation and influenced policymakers.

All sports events, ranging from local tournaments to international championships like the Olympic Games Paris 2024, can have significant social and environmental impacts. By nature of events like the Olympics, years of planning and investment in infrastructure means an extensive use of energy, water, and resources that can all contribute to carbon emissions, waste generation, and habitat destruction. 

From a social perspective, we’ve seen the potential displacement of communities to make way for stadiums and amenities (like the 720,000 people reportedly displaced to make way for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games), and there is an argument that the use of public funds for the Games could draw from alternative social infrastructure. After they end, too, are the Olympics villages and stadiums creating a positive legacy? 

Compared to other industries, such as fashion, the impact of supply chain and sustainability issues in sports is not as widely known and is complex and difficult to measure. However, it is recognised that unsustainable activities in sports have been contributing to climate change. 

To combat this environmental impact, sports organisations should take steps, both big and small, to embrace their sustainable journey. This applies across the entire field, from football to motorsport.

What can other sporting organisations and events learn from the Olympics? 

With such a rich history, there’s plenty that organisations can learn from the Olympics on sustainability. Past successes and past failures serve equally to highlight what can go right or wrong from setting sustainability goals. 

Take London 2012 for example, where the Games themselves were heralded a resounding success, but the social legacy came under serious scrutiny from a House of Lords Select Committee. What can we learn? The end of the event doesn’t mean the end of your responsibility. If your sport has a lasting impact, you should consider that and design interventions that maximise positive outcomes. 

Or the Rio Olympic Games, where academic analysis since has shown that not only was there limited positive social impact post the Games, but the economic benefits too were overestimated. The key takeaway here? Setting a strategy that over-estimates your impacts or the benefits of your sport may disengage your key stakeholders.

Olympic Games Paris 2024, however, aims to host the greenest Olympics in history by halving the average total carbon emissions of previous Games (Tokyo 2020, Rio 2016, London 2012). The commitment to legacy planning and infrastructure reuse will be key to delivering a carbon-neutral event. And we know that the Paris 2024 Organising Committee and IOC have been working since 2017 to limit the Games’ environmental impact. 

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 has avoided heavy investment in new infrastructure, with 95% of events hosted in existing buildings or temporary structures. The only new permanent venue, the Aquatics Centre, is built with recycled materials and powered by solar energy. The Athletes’ Village uses solar and geothermal power, with beds made from recycled fishing nets and reinforced cardboard. 

Transport remains a challenge, but 1000 km of cycle lanes and promoted public transport aim to limit emissions. The key learning for other sporting organisations is the innovative approach to energy management and recognising that such an event comes with a significant but expected carbon footprint due to travel. 

What strategies are sporting organisations and events implementing to be more sustainable? 

Sporting organisations are adopting various strategies: 

• Using renewable energy sources at venues
• Implementing zero-waste initiatives
• Optimising transportation logistics for reduced emissions
• Engaging fans through digital platforms to minimise physical travel
• Involving all stakeholders in their sustainability journey

There are now a range of options organisers have at their disposal, if only they prioritise making changes. Manufacturers and suppliers (and even sponsors) are also seeing benefits from being part of sustainability thinking, which in many cases is driving innovation, too. SailGP, for example, has an “Impact League” where teams compete to demonstrate they’re the most sustainable. It taps into the competitive nature of the teams, and earlier this year one sponsor told me they were being pushed hard on things like reducing their air travel to events, and on creating more sustainable products.

Technology is also key, and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 has invested in sustainable and innovative technology that will enable accurate analysis of power consumption, consolidating data from all 35 competition venues into one dashboard. This includes 100 smart electricity metres providing real-time information on power usage, venue capacity, weather conditions, and competition-related data.

How has EY contributed to sustainability within the sports industry? 

EY has significantly contributed to sustainability within the sports industry, particularly through our collaboration with Extreme E. Since joining the championship in 2020, EY has been instrumental in supporting Extreme E’s commitment to minimising its overall footprint while creating a positive legacy. Last year, we took a significant step by becoming Extreme E’s Official Sustainability Partner. 

We’ve been impressed by just how far Extreme E has gone in such a short period. Not only are they equitable in gender representation in the driver’s seat, but they’re also managing their direct carbon footprint, and trialling novel materials like flax-based body panels instead of carbon fibre – which appear to have similar or better properties but are completely biodegradable. The race locations are in areas impacted by climate change today, to highlight the challenges we all face; they don’t have spectators on-site; and they even use a panel of esteemed climate scientists to help define their forward strategy. 

This partnership introduced new features to race weekends and events, such as ‘XE Talks’ and ‘Thought Leadership’ Panels, which facilitate constructive discussions from industry leaders, NGOs, and the Extreme E Scientific Committee. Our framework has helped Extreme E minimise its environmental impact across remote race locations through strategic planning and both prior and post-racing impact assessments. 

Additionally, we work together to produce the championship’s annual Sustainability Report, showcasing achievements in sustainability programs, progress towards environmental goals, commitments to diversity and inclusion, and identifying areas for further positive impact. 

This partnership aligns with EY’s vision to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, leveraging innovative solutions and collaborative efforts for a greener future. Our shared commitment, passion, and sense of purpose drive us to support Extreme E in realising its ambition to minimise the sport’s carbon footprint while raising awareness of the climate crisis and leaving a more sustainable future for future generations.

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