header image

The Olympics: A Squandered Opportunity to Promote Sustainability, by Chris Thomas

Posted by: | April 17, 2014 Comments Off on The Olympics: A Squandered Opportunity to Promote Sustainability, by Chris Thomas |

Following the path blazed by the IOC Sport and Environment Commission, the Russian organizers of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics claimed to have created “the greenest, most environmentally aware games ever staged.”[6] Steps toward this goal included moving some venues to avoid rare flora and fauna, using sustainably grown wood for construction, and promising to make the Games zero waste.[7] In addition to Russia’s efforts, corporate sponsors promised to take individual action to promote sustainability. These promises ranged from Dow Chemical’s pledge to offset the Olympics’ carbon footprint, to General Electric’s promise to help supply renewable power, to Coca Cola’s traveling showcase of activities promoting an active lifestyle.[8] All told, virtually every involved entity alleged to have taken some action to promote global sustainability, at least to varying degrees.

Sadly, despite all of these well-publicized promises, the organizers accomplished very little concerning sustainability. Regardless of the monumental amounts of money spent on the Games, sustainable achievements were few and far between. In October 2013, the Associated Press announced that Russia’s state-owned rail monopoly disposed of construction waste in a huge illegal landfill.[9] This landfill—which threatened to contaminate Sochi’s drinking water—proved that Russia broke its zero waste promise. Ironically, despite a 51 billion dollar budget, there were “no provisions for treating construction waste.”[10] Apparently, Russia’s dedication to ‘zero waste’ ran so deep that it did not even consider that waste could would happen. As if that blunder was not enough, the United Nations and the World Wildlife Fund publicly criticized Russia for damaging pristine natural ecosystems during construction.[11] All told, Russia’s actions consistently and impressively fell short of its promises.

Read more…

_____________________

[7] Id.; Aston, supra note 2. “Zero waste” refers to the garbage created by the construction of the venues and operation of the Games.

[8] Aston, supra note 2.

[10] Id.

[11] Aston, supra note 2.

Pages: 1 2 3 4

under: General, International
Tags: , ,

Comments are closed.

Categories