2024 Olympics the Most ESG Friendly Games Ever – Illusion or Reality?

Part I: Presented Illusion

As the world geared up for the 2024 Olympic Games, sustainability, environmental consciousness, social responsibility and governance have once again taken center stage. Organizers have set an ambitious goal to make these Olympic games the greenest and the most socially responsible in history. 

For example, to achieve sustainability, the 2024 Olympics emphasized using eco-friendly infrastructure. Most venues were either temporary or repurposed from existing structures, which greatly reduced the need for new construction. The organizers also pledged to power all Olympic venues with 100% renewable energy, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. 

Furthermore, the 2024 Olympics also pushed for zero waste with a comprehensive waste management strategy. This included recycling programs, composting organic waste, and cutting down on single-use plastics. Additionally, the organizers prioritized green transportation options. An extensive network of electric buses and bicycles was available, and public transportation was heavily promoted to reduce the use of private vehicles.

Another example of the Paris 2024 Olympics’ sustainability efforts was their commitment to delivering meals with half the carbon emissions of an average French meal (2.5 to 3 kg CO₂; equivalent to driving a car for about 12 kilometers). To achieve this, organizers doubled the amount of plant-based ingredients and increased plant-based options for everyone, including spectators and staff. Additionally, 80% of the ingredients were sourced from local agriculture, with 25% produced within 250 kilometers of each venue.

A crucial part of the 2024 Olympics’ social responsibility plan was engaging with local communities. They were involved in planning and executing sustainable initiatives, ensuring that the benefits lasted beyond the Games. Educational programs and workshops were organized to raise awareness about sustainability issues and inspire long-term changes. 

By aiming to be the greenest Olympics ever, the 2024 Games allegedly set a new standard for future international events. According to organizers, the comprehensive approach to reducing environmental impact—from sustainable infrastructure and renewable energy to waste management and green transportation—showed that even giant sporting events like the Olympics could be held responsibly.

Part II: Global News Media Reality

All above mentioned claims sound amazing, but what is the reality? Is it really possible to host a giant sports event like the Olympics without worsening climate change or sparking controversy? The truth is far more complicated than the PR facts published by the Olympics organizers.

Using Semantic Visions (SV) tool for leveraging and monitoring a significant part of global news media (i.e., more than 1.1 million news articles daily from over 200 000 sources, covering 12 different languages), I decided to uncover the media’s perception of the just-finished Olympics. Were these Olympics truly the most ESG friendly in history as presented, or were there controversies that might raise some doubts?

Analyzed news articles were collected, by SV, from February 2024 until mid-August 2024. During this period, Semantic Visions identified over 20,000 unique articles related to the 2024 Olympics. Of these, about 75% had a positive sentiment, while 25% were negative. Breaking it down by ESG factors, 44% of the articles focused on social, 37% on environmental topics, and 19% on governance.

Looking more closely at each ESG category, we see that within the social factor, the most resonant topics in the news were related to diversity and inclusion practices, community engagement and labor standards and human rights. This includes efforts to provide rural populations with better access to services like education and healthcare, a commitment to ensuring women and girls have equal access to education, healthcare, and decent work, as well as the promotion of ongoing education and training.

Within the environmental factor, the most discussed topics were pollution and waste management and energy efficiency and renewable energy. Specifically, there was a focus on socially and environmentally sustainable transport that uses renewable energy sources, efforts to reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions from production activities, and the principles of meeting present energy needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, while also using ethical and sustainable methods to deliver energy.

Finally, when it comes to the governance factor, corporate ethics, compliance, and sustainable efforts were key topics. This includes instances of one-time donations or ongoing support, such as sponsorships, to groups or initiatives focused on research and development that consider environmental, social, ethical, and economic concerns.

So far, this all sounds amazing, right?

But there’s a catch. It’s important to note that Semantic Visions can’t differentiate between regular news articles written by reporters and the PR efforts of the Olympic organizing committee. Upon Semantic Visions’ analysis, it seems that a significant portion of pro-ESG articles can be attributed to the strategic efforts of public relations and marketing teams. These articles often reflect carefully crafted narratives designed to promote specific perspectives on ESG initiatives. However, we cannot prove or disprove this claim.

Knowing this, it might seem like there’s no way to see the reality behind the Olympics? Fortunately, leveraging Semantic Visions data to gain insights into detrimental events can offer more complex perception into what’s really happening beyond the PR articles. This approach is not only valuable for monitoring ESG-related events but can also be extremely useful for companies to track events related to mergers and acquisitions, technological innovations, financial challenges, or potential credit defaults and bankruptcies. Importantly, you can track these events across various levels of detail, from general information to specific articles that were published. This allows you to get a complete picture of what’s really happening.

Exploring negative events related to the 2024 Olympics, we found a significant amount of controversy surrounding individuals, non-profits, or charitable organizations involved in dishonest or criminal activities. Additionally, there were cases of animal cruelty. Other issues included the exclusion of people based on background, ethnicity, race, or sexual orientation, as well as negligence in conservation practices related to the ocean and marine ecosystems. 

Now that we’ve covered the most controversial topics, let’s dive into the most discussed subjects in the articles. To start, there were significant concerns about the impact on Tahiti’s coral reefs that have been widely discussed in the media, especially regarding the construction of a metal judging tower for the Olympic surfing competition. This decision sparked activism and ultimately led to scaled-back plans for the tower, as scientists and local communities were rightly concerned that drilling the metal tower’s foundations into the seabed could cause significant harm to coral reefs, which are already under severe pressure from climate change and facing the threat of extinction. Moreover, this could have had further negative impacts on marine life and the livelihoods of local communities. Fortunately, the tower project was reduced to the bare minimum in order to have the least impact possible on the environment, but it’s scandalous that the organizers, while promoting these Olympics as the greenest ever, even considered it given the fragility of coral reefs.

Furthermore, there was significant buzz surrounding Charlotte Dujardin, a British equestrian and Olympic dressage champion, who faced allegations of horse abuse in recent years. The controversy mainly focused on her training methods, particularly whipping a horse during a training. That caused the scandal and her withdrawal from the OG. Although these allegations did not result in any formal sanctions against Dujardin, they have fueled ongoing debates about ethical training practices in dressage and other equestrian sports.

Besides, there was also a lot of buzz related to corruption. One of the key concerns being investigated involves contracts managed by Solideo, the public body responsible for Olympic infrastructure. Although these investigations have not yet reached final conclusions, it is alarming that such events are even under suspicion of corruption.

In addition to the issues uncovered by media analysis, I would like to highlight two points that I personally believe are crucial: no large-scale sport event (even cultural) can truly be environmentally friendly. Let me tell you why. Firstly, the carbon footprint from thousands of athletes, officials, and millions of spectators traveling from all over the world is enormous. For example, the official estimates for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics indicate that transportation emissions were between 2-3 million tons of CO2, which is equivalent to 2 million people taking a round-trip flight from New York to London. Air travel alone accounts for a substantial portion of greenhouse gas emissions, and the influx of people also significantly increases local energy and water consumption. Secondly, the production and disposal of merchandise and promotional materials, regardless of how sustainably they were produced, add further to the environmental burden.

Don’t get me wrong—I do personally believe that the organizers did a great job in reducing the 2024 Olympics’ negative impact. However, in my view, the reality is that hosting such a colossal event without exacerbating climate change or negatively impacting local communities is an enormous challenge and achieving it might be more of a fantasy than a feasible goal. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the original vision of Pierre de Coubertin, who believed that Olympics should promote the development of the whole person—physically, morally, and intellectually—and should not be overshadowed by commercialism or excessive spectacle. Coubertin aimed at establishing an international athletic festival of which the driving force should be an educational objective. He believed that the Olympic Games should promote the value of sport as an educational tool. Indeed, the idea was that sport can contribute to the education of modern citizens. Participation in sport competitions should support the development of highly social and moral character traits which could be transferred beyond the sporting context to daily private and professional life. And link it to the idea of the organizers’ focus on sustainability and respect for the planet, upholding the ideals of inclusivity and social responsibility.

Disclaimer: The views and interpretations expressed in this article are those of the author, Lukas Gabor, ESG Subject Matter Expert, and do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization. The data provided by Semantic Visions is solely a tool for analysis and should not be construed as an endorsement or interpretation of the events discussed.