Olympic and Paralympic Games
Over the last 30 years the Olympic and Paralympic Games have demonstrated an increased commitment to sustainability.
Over the last 30 years the Olympic and Paralympic Games have demonstrated an increased commitment to sustainability and demonstrated the ways in which the concept of sustainability has broadened from primarily environmental, to include economic and human rights considerations as well.
Environmental sustainability
Widely regarded as the first environmentally conscious ‘Green Games’ 22, the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games provided numerous legacies. Organisers set five ‘green goals’ for the Games: (1) safeguard and develop the region’s environmental qualities; (2) contribute to economic development and sustainable growth; (3) adapt the architecture of buildings to minimise environmental impact; (4) use the natural landscape; and (5) protect the quality of the environment during the Games. 23
The 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games was the first to establish a carbon policy and set targets on waste management, selection of construction materials (including the use of recycled materials), and address biodiversity concerns. There was also a long-term plan to transform East London environmentally into a destination where people would choose to live, work and visit. The London Olympic precinct was intended to be a key environmental contribution to London, delivering a visibly ‘green’ Games in contrast to previous host cities. 24
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Organising Committee developed a ‘Sustainability Plan’ based upon building cooperative platforms with a diverse group of stakeholders. In line with the Games vision, the Committee strove to build a consensus approach on sustainability, through discussions on environmental, social, and economic considerations. Thematic topics within the Plan included: (1) low carbon management; (2) resource management; (3) natural environment and biodiversity; (4) consideration of human rights, labour, and fair-trade practices; and (5) engagement (i.e., involvement, cooperation, and communication). 25
The Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be the first Games that is contractually required to operate as a ‘climate positive’ event, in other words, offsetting more carbon emissions than it produces, including the international air travel requirements of participants attending the event, building sporting venues, and additional transport and waste products during the event itself. 26
Human rights
In September 2022 the International Olympic Committee, launched the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights, opens in a new tab. The Framework highlights that all constituents of the Olympic Movement need to respect internationally recognised human rights and moves to mainstream a human rights approach into current work and programmes, in close cooperation with the teams in charge of complementary topics such as gender equality, safeguarding, sustainability and key functions and departments within the IOC.
As an example of this process, from 2024 the Olympic and Paralympic Games host contracts also include human rights clauses. 21
Resources and reading
- Queensland’s high-tech plan to make the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games smarter and greener, opens in a new tab, Davina Jackson, The Conversation, (21 November 2022). With Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic Games, Queensland is accelerating “smart” and “green” infrastructure projects right across the coast from Coolangatta to Coolum. So what practical steps is the state government taking to bring Brisbane closer to being a smart city while managing rapid growth? And what differences can city residents realistically expect to see for themselves?
- In a year of sporting mega-events, the Brisbane Olympics can learn a lot from the ones that fail their host cities, opens in a new tab, Anthony Halog, The Conversation, (15 August 2022). In a year of major sporting events – the Commonwealth Games, the FIFA World Cup, cricket’s T20 World Cup, the Winter Olympics – conversations on greening such events are more essential than ever. While the Brisbane Olympics are a decade away, lessons from events like these need to be applied from the start to maximise the benefits of the city’s transformation for the 2032 Games. Good planning can produce a positive environmental legacy for years to come.
- Brisbane's 2032 'climate-positive' Olympics commitment sets high bar on delivering sustainable legacy, opens in a new tab. Ashleigh Stevenson, Brittney Kleyn, ABC News, (8 November 2021). Brisbane's 2032 Olympics will be the first Games contractually obliged to operate as "climate positive", which is part of a bid to avoid the legacies of huge debts and abandoned stadiums faced by some previous host cities. A "climate positive" Olympic Games has to offset more carbon emissions than it produces. Specific details of how Brisbane 2032 will achieve a climate positive Games are yet to be laid out. In the process of trying to achieve a 2032 climate positive Games, Brisbane itself will transform, experts say.
- Tokyo 2020 legacy highlights social and environmental benefits created by the Games, opens in a new tab, International Olympic Committee, (7 August 2021). Increased sports participation, stronger engagement and initiatives to create a more sustainable city have been highlighted as part of a series of legacy case studies published by the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG).
- All you need to know about Tokyo 2020 sustainability, opens in a new tab, International Olympic Committee, (22 July 2021). From the hydrogen-powered cauldron to medals made from recycled mobile phones, from gender balance to the first official Pride House, the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 are blazing a trail for the future. Here’s everything you need to know about how Tokyo 2020 is helping build a better, more sustainable world through sport.
- Sydney 2000 Legacy: Environmental efforts, opens in a new tab, International Olympic Committee, (20 November 2020). From the solar-powered hot water system in the Olympic Village to the development of the 450-hectare Millennium Parklands, the Olympic Games Sydney 2000 left a substantial environmental legacy for the city for the foreseeable future and beyond. The efforts of the Sydney 2000 Organising Committee to protect the environment have since been recognised internationally, being awarded the United Nations Global Roll of Honour in 2001. The environmental guidelines for the Sydney Games were adopted by the IOC as a benchmark for host cities in the first decade of the 21st century.
- Sydney 2000: Games of environmental responsibility and inclusion, opens in a new tab, International Olympic Committee, (20 November 2020). There were several key objectives for the Olympic Games Sydney 2000. The platform provided by hosting the Games was to be used to redevelop run-down areas of Sydney. Environmentally responsible, world-class facilities in and around Sydney Olympic Park were to be created. And Australia’s Aboriginal heritage was to be highlighted and promoted.
- Lillehammer 1994 set the stage for sustainable Games legacies, opens in a new tab. International Olympic Committee, (2014). More than 20 sustainability projects were implemented before, during and after the Games, examples include: relocating the speed skating arena in Hamar to protect a sanctuary for rare birds; designing and constructing the ice hockey venue to conserve energy; using reclaimed stone from the construction of the ski jump site in other venues; and using local construction materials. More than twenty years after the Games, venues are still available for public use and have hosted many international events.
- IPC Accessibility Guide, opens in a new tab, International Paralympic Committee, (October 2020). Inside the publication are a combination of supporting information, guidelines, recommendations, construction building codes and previous Games examples to help OCOGs and their partners deliver an inclusive sporting event. Furthermore, the document has been created with a wider audience in mind to assist similar organisers and hosts across the globe in creating a more accessible and inclusive environment. The Guide features details on a wide range of areas including accommodation, transportation, venue layout, access to information and services, along with best practices for disability and awareness training.
- Procurement of major international sport-events-related infrastructure and services: Good practices and guidelines for the Olympic movement, opens in a new tab, International Olympic Committee, (June 2020). Initial analyses conducted by the International Partnership Against Corruption in Sport (IPACS) evidenced the links between corruption and procurement inefficiencies, both responsible for putting ethical and financial pressure on sporting events. Therefore, to complement the work already done, the following paper was developed under the leadership of two founding partners of the IPACS (the International Olympic Committee, IOC, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD). It outlines dimensions supporting the efficient procurement of major international sport-events-related infrastructure and services.
- The Contribution of Sport to the Sustainable Development Goals: Insights from Commonwealth Games Associations, opens in a new tab, Haydn Morgan, Anthony Bush, Darragh McGee, Journal of Sport for Development, Volume 9(2), (August 2021). The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are hailed as a common language to unite a global commitment towards a change of trajectory regarding social, economic, and environmental development issues. Although not overtly cited within the SDGs or their related targets, sport has been widely accepted and promoted as an enabler of social change and a mechanism through which to strategically map and measure commitments to sustainability. However, despite the numerous case study examples of specific sport-based programs that have demonstrated the potential of sport to contribute to the SDGs, there is limited knowledge about the currency and value that the SDGs hold for key sport stakeholders in development, and a shortage of concrete evidence to assess the uptake and integration at the level of national policy. In an attempt to address this shortage, this paper presents insights from the analysis of secondary data collected by the Commonwealth Games Federation from 62 Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) in relation to their perspectives on the contribution of sport to the SDGs. The paper provides examples of specific areas of strength, or those in need of further development, to present a baseline for the current state of play in understanding the contribution from individual CGAs to the SDGs.
- Existential threats to the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games? a review of emerging environmental health risks, opens in a new tab, Michael Annear, Tetsuhiro Kidokoro, Yasuo Shimizu, Reviews on Environmental Health, Volume 36(2), (January 2021). This review highlights two intersecting environmental phenomena that have significantly impacted the Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games: infectious disease outbreaks and anthropogenic climate change. Following systematic searches of five databases and the gray literature, 15 studies were identified that addressed infectious disease and climate-related health risks associated with the Summer Games and similar sports mega-events. Over two decades, infectious disease surveillance at the Summer Games has identified low-level threats from vaccine-preventable illnesses and respiratory conditions. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and expansion of vector-borne diseases represent emerging and existential challenges for cities that host mass gathering sports competitions due to the absence of effective vaccines. Ongoing threats from heat injury among athletes and spectators have also been identified at international sports events from Asia to North America due to a confluence of rising Summer temperatures, urban heat island effects and venue crowding. Projections for the Tokyo Games and beyond suggest that heat injury risks are reaching a dangerous tipping point, which will necessitate relocation or mitigation with long-format and endurance events. Without systematic change to its format or staging location, the Summer Games have the potential to drive deleterious health outcomes for athletes, spectators and host communities.
- The right to adequate housing: evictions of the homeless and the elderly caused by the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, opens in a new tab, Naofumi Suzuki, Tetsuo Ogawa, Nanako Inaba, Leisure Studies, Volume 37(1), pp.59-96, (2018). The reconstruction of the National Stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo has induced displacement of two groups of vulnerable people, raising concerns of the violation of human rights, particularly the right to adequate housing. The expansion of the stadium led to the expulsion of dozens of homeless people who lived in and around the park surrounding the stadium, and a sudden decision to demolish a nearby public housing estate built for the 1964 Summer Games forced over 200 tenants, most of whom were elderly, to be relocated. While the homeless people engaged in several rounds of negotiation with the government authorities, the majority of the housing tenants reluctantly agreed to move except for a few who kept demanding respectful treatment from the metropolitan government. Presenting the preliminary results of a mixed-method three-year qualitative study, this research note demonstrates that while the authority might have offered alternative housing considered ‘adequate’ in terms of physical living conditions, the process of evictions did not afford autonomy for the affected to choose where to live. The respective status of the affected – homeless and elderly – may demand the reconsideration of the concept of ‘adequate housing’ in relation to human dignity.
- The adoption and evolution of environmental practices in the Olympic Games, opens in a new tab, Walker Ross, Becca Leopkey, Managing Sport and Leisure, Volume 22(1), pp.1-18, (2017). This paper explores the evolution of environmental practices in the Olympic Movement and how they have become institutionalized within the field by using qualitative methodology consisting of content analysis of International Olympic Committee and Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games documents as well as other archival sources.
- The making of the IOC environmental policy as the third dimension of the Olympic movement, opens in a new tab, Hart Cantelon, Michael Letters, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 35(3), (June 2016). The Winter Olympics at Nagano, Japan, in 1998 marked the first Games at which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had a clearly articulated environmental protection policy that was to be followed by the organizing committee. This article attempts to explain the conditions under which this policy came to be, arguing that it was the widespread environmental damage at the 1992 Albertville and the Savoie Region Games, and the subsequent environmentally conscious Green Games of Lillehammer, Norway (1994), that were the historical benchmarks for the development of this policy. The importance of human/environment interaction in the creation of global sport policy is developed and demonstrates the primacy of local initiatives (Albertville, Lillehammer) upon transnational global concerns (IOC environmental policy).
- The Olympic Games Impact (OGI) study for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games: strategies for evaluating sport mega-events’ contribution to sustainability, opens in a new tab. Vanwynsberghe, Robert, International Journal of Sport Policy, Volume 7(1), pp.1-18, (2015). This paper introduces three techniques for evaluating the sustainability of sport mega-events. The three techniques are bundling/leveraging, before–after control, and sustainability scorecards. This article would be of interest to future prospective Olympic host cities, researchers of mega-events and their impacts and practitioners who evaluate urban sustainability.
- Green Olympics, green legacies? An exploration of the environmental legacies of the Olympic Games, opens in a new tab. Shalini Samuel, Wendy Stubbs, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Volume 48(4), pp.485-504, (2013). This paper explores the legacies from the greening of the OG through an analysis of Beijing 2008, Singapore 2010, and London 2012, drawing on interviews with key stakeholders. While each OG is different, the key determinants for green legacies include: the breadth and depth of environmental commitments during the bid process; embedding sustainability in the vision, mission and branding of organizing committees; embedding sustainability in various aspects of OG organization, which is an important practical application of a sustainability vision; and the transfer of knowledge from one OG to the next, allowing newer host cities to enhance green legacies.
- Human rights and the Beijing Olympics: imagined global community and the transnational public sphere, opens in a new tab, Susan Brownell, British Journal of Sociology, Volume 63(2), pp.306-327, (June 2012). The Olympic Games are increasingly used by non-governmental organizations to demand transnational forms of accountability from public authorities. This article assesses the effectiveness of transnational public opinion surrounding the Beijing 2008 Olympics, when the pressure of Western public opinion was exerted upon the government of the world's most populous non-Western nation to improve its human rights record. Utilizing the concepts of ‘imagined global community’ and ‘transnational public sphere’, it finds that the Olympic Games had helped to call into existence a transnational public that ran up against the obstacle posed by the incomplete formation of supra-national forms of governance. The International Olympic Committee, a non-governmental organization, was a weak substitute. Because of the strong desire of Chinese people to take part in transnational deliberations, the article concludes with optimism about the potential of transnational public spheres that include Chinese people to develop toward more effective forms of transnational governance. But the IOC must strengthen the voice of its non-Western members, and Western interlocutors, including the media, must accept their share of the responsibility for creating the conditions for egalitarian dialogue.
- The Olympics as a platform for protest: a case study of the London 2012 ‘ethical’ Games and the Play Fair campaign for workers’ rights, opens in a new tab, Jill Timms, Leisure Studies, Volume 31(3), pp.355-372, (2012). The Olympic Games, with its distinctive ethos and reach, offers a valuable opportunity for those able to mobilise it as a platform for their own purposes. This paper focuses on how global social justice groups are pursuing this goal. It is argued that the types of protest utilising the Olympic platform change over time and reflect distinct historical phases of the Games. Contemporary anti-Olympic and Olympic watchdog campaigns are characterised by contestation over the prioritising of corporate interests, so contribute to wider critiques of globalising capitalism. The Play Fair campaign for the rights of workers making official Olympic merchandise and supplies exemplifies this, as it mobilises the Olympic platform to question and influence working practices within transnational supply chains. A case study of the campaign is presented, drawing on documentary analysis, interviews and participant observations undertaken since the launch of PlayFair 2012 in February 2010. It was found that by targeting London 2012 corporate discourses of ‘ethics’ and ‘sustainability’ in its campaign to ensure a ‘sweat free’ Olympics, Play Fair connects the production of major sporting events to wider issues of global inequality, poverty and structural problems in transnational labour markets.
- Leveraging the 2010 Olympic Games ‘Sustainability’ in a City of Vancouver Initiative, opens in a new tab, VanWynsberghe R, Maurer E, Derom I, University of British Columbia, (2010). Theoretically, sustainability is likely to be a factor in future leveraging efforts because it is an increasingly strategic move in sporting mega-event bidding. ‘Sustainability’ in this context means attempting to reconcile constituents’ needs in three broad areas—economic, environmental, and social. Sustainability is also a coherent rationale that directs the public’s post-event momentum toward individual actions that enhance the community's collective well-being and prosperity. Public perceptions of ‘good’ environment practice may be one of the longest lasting legacies of hosting a major sporting event. One year before the 2010 Winter Games, the City of Vancouver announced its ambition to become the world’s ‘greenest city’ by embracing a series of citizen based actions toward environmental concerns – such as recycling initiatives, encouraging active transport (commuting by bicycle and walking), and improving curbside landscaping in residential neighbourhoods. There were also government led initiatives — such as setting a world leading green building code, creating a corporate leaders program to champion environmental issues, and requiring electric-car charging units be built into new multi-unit residential buildings. All initiatives were ‘leveraged’ by Winter Olympic hosting promotions.
- Olympic environmental concerns as a legacy of the Winter Games, opens in a new tab, Chappelet J, The International Journal of the History of Sport, Volume 25(14), pp.1884-1902, (2008). This paper explores how the ideas of environmental protection and sustainable development have been slowly incorporated into the Olympic narrative. The author shows how a set of environmental principles were developed through the experiences of local committees during the 1970s, and how the International Olympic Committee adopted them for the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympic Games and incorporated them into the Olympic ideal.
- IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights, opens in a new tab, International Olympic Committee, (September 2022). In order to fulfil the goal of Olympism, all constituents of the Olympic Movement need to respect internationally recognised human rights within their respective remit. The IOC Human Rights Strategic Framework will reinforce key programmes and initiatives by mainstreaming a human rights approach into current work and programmes, in close cooperation with the teams in charge of complementary topics such as gender equality, safeguarding, sustainability and key functions and departments within the IOC.
- Advisory Committee on Human Rights, opens in a new tab, (accessed 5 November 2025). The Advisory Committee’s mission is to provide strategic guidance to the IOC and advise on the implementation of the IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights.
- Building the Legacy - Beyond 2020, opens in a new tab, Bureau of Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Preparation, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, (July 2021). Legacy: It is the social, economic and cultural benefits of holding the Olympic and Paralympic Games that the host city and host country can inherit and enjoy for many years. We’ve come up with nine themes to better define our preparations and ongoing initiatives towards an enduring the Tokyo 2020 Games legacy: Safety and security; Urban development; Sports and health; Participation and cooperation; Culture and tourism; Education and diversity; Environment and sustainability; Prosperity and technology; Disaster recovery.
- Legacy Reporting Framework, opens in a new tab. The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, in collaboration with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, has released 24 summary case studies about initiatives that focus on the Tokyo 2020 Games legacy aiming to understand the benefits of the Games to the host city.
- Action and Legacy Plan, opens in a new tab, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, (July 2016). To promote actions that will result in positive and long lasting legacies, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee is working closely with various stakeholders to promote a range of comprehensive actions from the initials stages of planning in the five following pillars: Sport and Health; Urban Planning and Sustainability; Culture and Education; Economy and Technology; Recovery, Nationwide Benefits, and Global Communication.
- Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Sustainability Plan, opens in a new tab, Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, (2016). The Tokyo 2020 Games set five main sustainability themes, which Tokyo 2020, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Government of Japan and other delivery partners work on in preparations for and operations of the Games. In addition, Tokyo 2020 formulated the Tokyo 2020 Sustainable Sourcing Code as a tool to ensure sustainability throughout the supply chains of products and services Tokyo 2020 procures as well as licensed products.
- Climate Change - We will promote energy savings and use of renewable energy as much as possible "Towards Zero Carbon".
- Resource Management - Through 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle), we aim to "Zero Wasting".
- Natural Environment and Biodiversity - We will contribute to the realization of "City within Nature/Nature within the City".
- Human Rights, Labour and Fair Business Practices - We will operate the Games in accordance with the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
- Involvement, Cooperation and Communications (Engagement) - Through the participation and collaboration of entire society, we will create the Games which open to everyone.
