The Carbon Footprint of Mega Sport Events: A Comparative study to Understand the Sustainability of Olympic Games

Research Purpose: In line with Paris Agreement, International Olympic Committee (IOC) has committed to reduce direct and indirect carbon emissions by 30% by 2024 and 50% by 2030. Mitigating the impacts of climate change and recognizing the importance of sustainability, the environmental impacts of mega sporting events must be attended seriously. Aim and Objective: The study aims toward a systematic evaluation for existence of sustainability to evaluate the sustainability of the last four Summer Olympics from 2012-2024. The carbon budget is divided into travel, construction and operations which include catering, accommodation, and logistics, etc. The main objective of the study is to compare the carbon footprints produced during the games and the upcoming Paris Olympics, and also to understand the cost of hosting and steps taken toward reducing CO₂ emission. Result: The findings of the study indicates that London Olympics 2012 and Rio Olympics 2016 emitted 3.3 million and 3.6 million tonnes of CO₂, respectively whereas Tokyo Olympics 2021 emitted 2.73 million tonnes of CO₂ despite being deprived of spectators during the Covid-19 pandemic and the organizers of Paris Olympics estimated to cut down carbon emission to around 1.75 million tonnes. Conclusion: With varying degrees of success, organizers and promoters should attempt for measures to reduce negative impacts and enhance positive ones. Turning the games more sustainable we must re-size the event by minimizing venues, rotating the games among the same host cities, and by enforcing sustainability standards.