Faster, higher, stronger… greener
Sustainability at the 2012 London
Olympics
International events with a global audience are an ideal vehicle to promote sustainable
development. In 1986 the President of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC), Juan Antonio Samaranch, declared that the environment was to be the third pillar of the
Olympic movement (sport and culture being the other two). The idea of making the Olympic Games
environmentally friendly began at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and Agenda 21 (see textbook pages 104–105,
206) became an important element for the IOC’s development of a sustainable Olympics. In 1995 the Sport and
Environment Commission of the IOC was created. Seven years after the original Agenda 21 was adopted, the
IOC created its own version on June 14 1999, in Seoul, Korea. The Olympic Movement adopted the Agenda in
October 1999 at the World Conference on Sport and Environment held in Rio de Janeiro. The Programme of
Action in the Agenda 21 adopted by the Olympic Movement called for, among other things, improved socioeconomic conditions and the conservation and sustainable management of resources. The Agenda proposed how
the Games can ensure sustainability through using renewable forms of energy (e.g. solar power), closing down
roads in and out of venues to reduce pollution, and using the celebrity power of the sports men and women to
educate the public about environmental issues.
London 2012
Since its inception, the London 2012 Games has promoted itself as the ‘world’s first truly sustainable Games’ (a
claim also made by the Sydney Games). London’s vision for an environmentally friendly games had been a
central part of its 2005 bid, with the IOC praising its ‘strong emphasis on the integration of environmental
considerations… ensuring maximum sustainability’. London pledged itself to an eco-agenda encompassing lowcarbon sports venues, biodiversity within the Olympic Park, low food-miles through use of local food, and a selfsufficient athletes village. It is the aim of London 2012 to provide a blueprint for how to run sustainable sporting
events in the future and in particular for Rio 2016.
Venues
Traditionally it is the venues themselves that create the
largest carbon footprint. The 2012 Olympic Stadium is
the lightest ever made, using one quarter of Beijing’s
equivalent (where the 2008 Games were staged). The
12,000-seat basketball arena will be deconstructed and
used to help make other sporting venues, therefore
representing the ultimate in recyclability. The
Velodrome, where the cycling will take place, has an
ultra-lightweight roof and rainwater collection that will
reduce water consumption at
The Olympic Park
the Games. In addition, its wooden track has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (verifying that it
is from sustainable sources). In April 2011 the Commission for Sustainable London (CSL) reported that the
Games were on track to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2013, by, for example, using lower-carbon cement
and concrete. The Games also aim to recycle 90% of the demolition material by weight, and Friends of the
Earth report they are on target to do this.
Transport
London 2012 also promoted itself as the ‘public transport games’ where 100% of spectators will arrive at the
Games either by using public transport, cycling, or walking. 75% of the Olympic visitors will come by train. To
help with this, £10 million has been invested into new cycling and walking routes, and an incentive of free cycle
repair and maintenance at some venues. A water taxi and a £60 million cable car link across the river Thames
next to the Olympic park will transport 2,500 passengers an hour. In the construction of the site, two-thirds of
materials were transported to the site by rail or river barge, limiting carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels
to bring it in by road.
Food
The 2005 bid promised to support ‘consumption of local, seasonal and organic produce, with reduced amount of animal
protein and packaging’. This is something that had been pioneered in the UK by the Eden project, in Cornwall, southwest
England. Food packaging will be made from compostable material where it cannot be reused or recycled.
Sponsorship
The environmental ethos of the games has attracted sponsors to financially support the Games, despite the economic
recession. This both promotes the sustainability agenda, as well as raising revenue for the Games.
Legacy
The area of London where the Games is taking place – Stratford
and the surrounding areas in London’s East End, has traditionally
been an area of low investment and urban decay. The
regeneration of the area through plans for the Olympic Park have
gone a long way to transforming the area from an industrial
wasteland into an attractive site where people can work and live.
The site, which will be renamed the Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park following the Games, will have 35 new bridges, walkways,
train stations, housing, and a 45 hectare wildlife habitat area,
which will include 525 bird boxes, 150 bat boxes, and wildlife
refuges for otters, amphibians, and other animals. There will be
over 100 hectares of green open spaces left after the games, with
6.5km of restored river and canals.
Facts and Figures
Improvements to this stretch of pathway will
revitalize the environment for locals who use it
regularly and also for visitors to the area.
• Nearly 2 million tonnes of contaminated soil have been cleaned to be reused on the Olympic Park.
• An estimated 6.5 million people will attend the Games and will generate over 3,300 tonnes of food package
waste.
• Venues will use low-flush toilets, rainwater harvesting (such as in the Velodrome), and there will be a
recycling plant that will treat sewage water so that it can be used for park irrigation. Overall, venues will use
40% less water because of these measures.
• The Olympic Stadium is projected to include 42% recycled content.
• All beef, pork and eggs at fast-food restaurants will be from the UK and Ireland which will reduce air-miles
travelled. All chairs and tables from restaurants will be reused or recycled after use.
• 74,000 plants, 4,000 trees, 60,000 bulbs, and 300,000 wetland plants have been planted in the Olympic Park.
• 20% of the energy we use on the Olympic Park will be from renewable sources.
• 2000 newts and hundreds of toads have been taken out of the Olympic Park during construction.
• 90% of materials from the demolition of buildings in the Olympic Park have been recovered so they can be
reused or recycled.
The Olympic Park