The Climate Changing Olympics

Time to face the sweaty facts: climate change is crashing the Olympic party. From scorching temperatures to extreme weather, the future of the Games isn’t looking good. Climate change is impacting the performance of athletes and it’s causing problems for spectators and organisers too. Let's take a dive into what has changed - and what NEEDS to change.

France - known for fine wine, and now, record-breaking temperatures. Climate change has caused this year’s host country some of the largest annual temperature increases in Europe. For the location and dates of this Games, the average temperature is 3.1°C hotter now than the 1920s. The forecast for the first week of the upcoming Olympics in Paris has highs ranging from the high 20s up to a scorching 31°C. Not ideal peak performance weather - in fact many sports such as triathlon have to bring in special measures from the high 20°Cs (wet bulb index).

Climate change isn't just making it hotter, though, it's changing weather patterns, and that means more wildfires, more intense storms, flooding, wind, and landslides. Rain in France in summer is now falling less frequently - but more intensely when it does. Julie Deshayes, a researcher at French National Centre for Scientific Research, put it: "it's the concentration of precipitation in a smaller window of time that changes: What we had over a month before, now we'll have over two days”.

Athletes are in for a tough ride. Imagine competing in sweltering heat while trying to avoid heatstroke, dehydration, and exhaustion. Athletes gasping for breath can encounter air quality issues from wildfires or vehicle air pollution.

In BASIS’ Rings of Fire 2 report Lord Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics, warns that “with global temperatures continuing to rise, climate change should increasingly be viewed as an existential threat to sport”, and the report goes on to highlight the impacts on some sports in detail.

Let's look here instead at some of the outdoor sports and how they’re feeling the heat:

Here's the kicker: the Olympics, like too many massive events, is riddled with the most polluting sponsors.

Take British Cycling, for example, who made a controversial partnership with fossil fuel giant Shell. Despite subsequent protests from members, a Brandalism billboard campaign, and climate training to senior leaders from POW UK including details of Shell’s practices, they haven't broken free from this relationship.

The Olympics haven’t been averse to fossil fuel companies either. The recent Olympic Smoke Rings report highlights, “Since 2004, despite the well-established scientific facts about global warming and the catastrophic impact of burning fossil fuels, the Games have promoted seven of the world's largest oil and gas companies.”

Of the Games’ current sponsors Air France, Toyota, and ArcelorMittal have all been flagged for their poor environmental records. The recent Olympic Smoke Rings report includes calculations of just how polluting each sponsorship deal is. Toyota, whilst having more CO2 emissions than the majority of countries taking part, is also dragging its feet on EVs, while ArcelorMittal is a top target for dodgy deals according to BankTrack.

Team GB isn't off the hook either. With sponsors like British Gas and Persimmon Homes (who successfully lobbied against low carbon homes), they're not exactly setting the greenest example. Eurostar is a rare positive in a sea of pollutants.

This enablement of sportwashing is justified by the costs of the Olympics, which have increased 5-30 times since the 60’s thanks to increased event size.

The main thing is to cut ties with the worst actors. The Olympic Smoke Rings report suggests that emissions associated with each sponsor / corporate partner should be integrated into the sporting bodies’ strategies. The Rings of Fire report agrees they must think again. POW UK has recently put this into the UNFCCC Sports For Climate Action framework review, to try and ensure anyone part of that global initiative acts on this.

Will the Olympic experience ever be the same for attendees as climate impacts kick in? Events might need to shift their timings, causing chaos for fans and organisers alike. Crowds, once buzzing with excitement, could reduce due to the unbearable heat or unexpected storms.

Let's not forget the bugs. Vector-borne diseases like yellow fever, dengue fever, Leishmaniasis and malaria are creeping further into Northern Europe as the climate warms. Not ideal souvenirs to bring back from the Games.

It's not the festive atmosphere we're used to, and it begs the question: is this the future of the Olympics?

What is the actual purpose of the Games? Sportspeople performing at the highest level - and this is being actively damaged by the way it’s being held.

This Games has made some important improvements after years of being asked. Most venues are within 10km of the Olympic village to reduce travel emissions, and there are fewer diesel generators. They finally use mostly existing venue infrastructure, rather than creating as many new ones to be swiftly abandoned. (Some suggest rotating repeating hosts to completely solve this - discussed by e.g. Sam Haddad).

There are still a huge amount of unnecessary emissions though, in particular the now huge numbers of spectators that fly there. Spectators at the summer Olympics have increased by 440% since the 60’s - and at the winter Games by 850%. Should the Olympics continue on this growth trajectory, or is it time for an overhaul? Delegations and non-local spectators could be limited - an article, surprisingly in Bloomberg, even suggests a ban on non-local spectators. POW France have been doing leading work on this - eyeing their country's 2030 Winter Olympics, they have worked in a coalition to provide 17 demands for the event, and they have recently been on a panel discussion with the President of the French Olympic Committee.

So, what sacrifices are we willing to make to keep the Olympic flame burning bright? It's clear that without drastic changes, the Games are going to hit the wall sooner than later.

It's time to rethink how we celebrate the pinnacle of human athletic achievement in a heating world. We can cut the emissions and the fossil fuel sponsorships together. Without this, it’s hard to see how large scale sport events like this can help us drive the positive systemic change we so badly need.

Let's not wait until it's too late. The clock is ticking. The athletes deserve better. A liveable planet demands better.