27 July 2024 – While athletes are thrilling sports fans across the globe in Olympic Games Paris 2024, the Games have already helped create tangible social benefits for all layers of French society, benefitting millions of people, businesses and communities throughout the country.
Paris 2024 is spectacular, but also more sustainable, more responsible and more inclusive than any Games before. It’s the first edition fully aligned with the IOC’s strategic roadmap Olympic Agenda 2020, bringing sport closer to communities, fostering inclusivity, and optimising resources to create a lasting and positive impact on the host territory.
Organisers are working to do ‘more with less’ while creating a lasting legacy. At the bidding stage there was already a commitment to halve the Games-related carbon footprint compared to the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016, in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Infrastructure
Ninety-five per cent of the venues are existing or temporary, cutting down on carbon emissions and resource consumption. The few venues that have been built are models of sustainable construction and address long-term needs of the local communities.
The Olympic Village in Seine Saint Denis will turn into a vibrant residential district following the Games. It will offer 2,800 apartments accommodating approximately 6,000 residents, with 25% allocated for social housing with the remainder becoming affordable housing. The redevelopment will integrate leisure, commercial, community, and educational facilities, fostering a sustainable environment and employment opportunities for 6,000 people.
The Aquatics Centre in Seine Saint Denis, strategically located to address the area’s lack of sports facilities and high proportion of non-swimmers among young people, exemplifies Paris 2024’s commitment to long-term community impact. Post-Games, the Centre will transition into a comprehensive multi-sports facility open to the public, featuring fitness amenities, a climbing wall, skatepark, and spaces for both individual and team sports.
With 1,300 journalists and technicians, the Media Village in Dugny, Seine-Saint-Denis, will be converted into a modern garden city after the Games. The new ‘urban neighbourhood’ will provide a direct connection to the third largest park in the Greater Paris region, Parc Georges Valbon.
Bringing more sport to more people
A series of initiatives have been introduced to improve health and lifestyles across the region and all of France.
Paris 2024’s Bouger Plus (Move More) initiative, along with the IOC’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign, aims to combat sedentary lifestyles. A daily 30-minute physical activity period in French schools has been adopted as national policy. This programme is being introduced in all 36,250 primary schools across France.
The 1,2,3 Nagez! (1,2,3 Swim!) initiative offers free swimming and water safety lessons to over 26,000 children nationwide, including 9,400 from Seine Saint Denis, where one in two 11-year-olds cannot swim.
To promote active and healthy lifestyles, Terre des Jeux 2024 Label unites local authorities, sports clubs, federations, and leagues to use sport as a tool for education, inclusion, and to reduce physical inactivity. More than 50,000 projects have benefitted.
Paris 2024 has also promoted “active design” in town planning across the country, led by six pioneer municipalities. A demonstration project in Saint-Dizier, in northeast France, showed how simple prompts like signs on stairs and painted lines on the ground have encouraged 71 per cent of residents to walk more. More than half (57 per cent) say they have used newly designated “athletics corridors”.
Economic Impact
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 are estimated to generate between EUR 6.7 and 11.1 billion in net economic benefits in the Paris region, with an intermediate scenario projecting EUR 8.9 billion in net economic impact.
Paris 2024 and Solideo (the Olympic Delivery Authority) have implemented a large number of initiatives, unprecedented for such a major event, to ensure that the EUR 5 billion of contracts benefit the entire economic fabric and all businesses, in particular very small ones. Some 78% of Paris 2024 suppliers are small and medium-sized businesses, with more than 500 local businesses from the social and solidarity economy (ESS).
Sustainable Construction
The Games are being powered entirely by renewable energy sources. All venues are connected to the grid to avoid the use of temporary diesel generators. The sustainability of Paris 2024 is typified by the Aquatics Centre’s wooden frame and structure, which highlight the host’s commitment to using bio-based materials in architecture.
Its concave roof naturally heats indoor air and controls indoor humidity, maintaining a comfortable environment year-round. The giant solar panel roof covers 4,680 square metres and provides around 20% of the venue’s electricity. The roof also features an advanced rainwater capture system.
The Olympic Village is emblematic of low-carbon construction methods in construction, using mostly wood and low-carbon concrete, It incorporates 16,000 cubic metres of wood in the structures, sourced from eco-managed forests. Innovative insulation keeps the buildings warm in winter and cool in summer. The roofs are equipped with photovoltaic panels, which will provide 15% of the future neighbourhood’s electricity needs.
All venues are accessible via public transport, with 415 km of bike lanes connecting Olympic venues in Paris and over 20,000 bicycle parking spaces. Athletes and spectators are encouraged to travel to the Games by train instead of flying. A comprehensive plan to reduce waste is also in place, ensuring at least 90% of materials and equipment used during the Games will be repurposed or recycled.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 begin on 26 July and will continue until 11 August.
