Mega-events and the climate: what’s the game?

Abstract

Introduction: The Olympics and the Men's Football World Cup are both significant carbon emitters, yet they hold potential for raising awareness and driving action on climate change (Chalip, 2006; Martiskainen & Sovacool, 2021). Due to their visibility and political leverage, these mega-events are expected to lead by example in combatting climate crisis. This study provides a coherent analysis of their carbon emissions, carbon intensity and the development of climate-related policies.

Methods: We collected information on the evolution of climate-related policies and actual and projected carbon emissions for these events from 2000 to 2026 (Gogishvili et al., 2024), ameliorating the paucity of systematic research on this topic (Wilby et al., 2023). Data were sourced from official bid documents, supplemented by third-party sources where necessary. Carbon intensity was calculated as total emissions divided by outputs, such as revenue and athletes, to show the amount of carbon emitted per unit of production, providing a standardized measure across different activities and sectors.

Results: Over the study period, the carbon emissions were between 2.0 and 4.5 million tonnes of CO₂e for the Olympics and 1.65 to 3.63 million tonnes of CO₂e for the Men's Football World Cup. Although FIFA's range is smaller, its carbon intensity is significantly higher than of the Olympics, both per athlete and per million USD spent. Emissions are primarily driven by venue construction and spectator travel, highlighting the urgent need for systemic reductions. Climate concerns emerged on the agendas of FIFA and the IOC but were only formalised recently, largely under pressure from the 2015 Paris Agreement. Events since then claimed climate neutrality or even positivity. Paris 2024 allegedly met Paris Agreement's reduction demands, while the 2022 World Cup introduced sustainability initiatives that were found misleading. However, discrepancies in emissions reporting and lack of quantified standards remain persistent challenges.

Discussion/Conclusion: Despite progress, claims of "climate-positive" events through offsetting remain problematic, lacking transparency and credibility. To address this, we propose emission targets for the Olympic Games and the Men’s Football World Cup through 2048 and benchmark the projected emissions for Paris 2024 and the 2026 World Cup. Achieving these targets requires a fundamental transformation in event delivery model at least.

References

Chalip, L. (2006). Towards social leverage of sport events. Journal of Sport & Tourism, 11(2), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.1080/14775080601155126

Gogishvili, D., Ngoenha, W., & Müller, M. (2024). Carbon footprint of the Winter and Summer Olympic Games from 2000 to 2026 [Dataset]. Harvard Dataverse. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Y1OCLT

Martiskainen, M., & Sovacool, B. K. (2021). Mixed feelings: A review and research agenda for emotions in sustainability transitions. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 40, 609–624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2021.10.023

Wilby, R. L., Orr, M., Depledge, D., Giulianotti, R., Havenith, G., Kenyon, J. A., Matthews, T. K. R., Mears, S. A., Mullan, D. J., & Taylor, L. (2023). The impacts of sport emissions on climate: Measurement, mitigation, and making a difference. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1519(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14925