Andrea Meza Murillo and Gill Einhorn
December 5, 2025
The Paris Olympics aims to be the greenest Games in history. Here's how
Paris will host many events in pre-existing venues to avoid constructing new ones. Cyclists will race at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, built 10 years ago. While the Stade de France will host athletics. Its lighting is being converted from oil to biofuels, saving 13,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
The Paris Olympics are setting ambitious sustainability goals, aiming to be the greenest Games in history. Here's how they plan to achieve this.
Sustainability at the Paris Olympics
The Olympics will embrace sustainability through a number of efforts, such as:
- Using existing venues (e.g., velodrome built 10 years ago) and converting lighting to biofuels (saving 13,000 tonnes of CO2)
- Hosting swimming events, including the triathlon, marathon swimming, and para-triathlon on the Seine River after a cleanup process.
- Building with recycled materials (e.g., Adidas Arena seats) and reusing furniture from temporary venues.
- Following the Games, temporary venues at Place de la Concorde will demonstrate responsible resource management.
- Sourcing 25% of food locally to reduce transportation emissions.
These initiatives aim to cut the carbon footprint by 1.5 million tonnes compared to previous Games.
Reducing the carbon footprint
Through these and other initiatives, Paris aims to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the Games. They project to emit 1.5 million fewer tonnes of CO2 compared to the Rio and London Games, surpassing even the Tokyo Games held in 2021 with no spectators.
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