PARIS, France — Paris 2024 CEO Etienne Thobois said the plan for the Summer Olympics has been for Paris to host a Summer Games unlike any other while also reducing the global impact of the Olympics on the environment.
“Whether it’s the concept of constructing as little as possible or the transport concept for everything, the venues will be accessible through public transport," Thobois said. "We will have a clean slate of vehicles is the energy which is renewable energy."
Organizers with Paris 2024 said they will reduce greenhouse emissions by up to 50% from other games by reducing the construction of stadiums and instead use existing and temporary venues that are more compact. Many of those venues will use 100% wind or solar energy.
The only new venue built specifically for the Olympics is the aquatics venue, which architect Ton Venhoeven said has been constructed to be energy efficient, using more wood instead of concrete, solar on the roof, and seats built from recycled plastic bottles.
“They collected the buttons of the bottles, and it’s reused in the seats of the building,” Venhoeven said.
“We have more than 100 trees,” Venhoeven said. “We made a compact building, so we have the maximum amount of space to give back to nature.”
Peddle power will also be a part of a more sustainable Olympics, with 250 miles of added bike lanes around Paris. There’s also a ban on single-use plastics.
“We will have 700 water fountains throughout the various venues," Thobois said. "A circular economy, everything will use, whether it’s furniture, will be recycled.”
They are also using the Seine River to help power the Olympics with a floating solar power plant on the river. They have a number of solar panels on the water that will be used elsewhere after the games.
For as much as Paris hoped to make the Olympics sustainable, even down to not installing air conditioning in the athletes village, many countries are still bringing their own AC units to keep athletes cool during the Olympics.