Greenpeace analysis: Destroyed coral reefs and unscrupulous corporations at the Olympic Games

A current Greenpeace analysis shows that the Olympic Committee is not keeping its sustainability promises for the “green” Summer Games and has even partially withdrawn them. A coral reef was irretrievably destroyed for the surfing competitions at the Olympic Games. The mega event is also financed by sponsors such as Coca Cola and Toyota, which are among the biggest polluters on the planet. Greenpeace calls on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to organize the future Olympic Games with ambitious climate and environmental protection measures instead of greenwashing and making empty promises.

Ursula Bittner, Greenpeace spokeswoman in Austria: “The organizing committee has promised in advance that this year’s Olympic Games will be the greenest Games ever. But in Paris, many of the touted climate protection measures were only half-heartedly implemented or even revised. The result is nothing other than greenwashing.”

The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are sponsored by large corporations such as Air France, Toyota and Coca-Cola and are therefore characterized by greenwashing and environmental destruction. Air France produces the third most CO2 in Europe’s aviation, Toyota produced almost twice as many emissions as the whole of France in 2022, and Coca-Cola is the largest producer of plastic waste in the world. The sponsors are using the high-profile stage of the Olympic Games while contributing to the climate crisis every day.

For this year’s Olympic surfing competitions in Tahiti, a 14 meter high referee tower was built off the coast despite existing infrastructure. For the four-day competition, foundations were drilled into the seabed and concrete blocks weighing tons were lowered onto them. In doing so, the organizers of Paris 2024 have destroyed a valuable ecosystem.

More than 15 million spectators flock to the competition venues across France, around 45,000 volunteers are on duty at the mega event, and several billion television viewers are watching the Summer Games in Paris. Olympic Games have the power to inspire billions of people. They must therefore serve as a role model for sustainable events and avoid environmental damage instead of sacrificing it for sporting events. Greenpeace demands that the Olympic Games in the future avoid environmentally harmful sponsors and promote ambitious measures for sustainable sporting events.

The Greenpeace analysis can be found at: https://act.gp/4dg1vDd