Canadian athletes call for carbon neutral Vancouver Olympics

posted by DAISY in Climate Change

L-R: Kristina Groves (Photo:Ewan Nicholson); Thomas Grandi and Sara Renner; Kevin Light

More than 70 of Canada’s leading athletes have written to organizers of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, asking them to do more to make the Olympics carbon neutral.

While the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has said that the environment is one of the top priorities for the 2010 Games, there is concern that not enough is being done to address the real environmental impact of the event, which is estimated to produce 328,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

At the United Nations in October 2007, VANOC CEO John Furlong stated the official position of the organizers, saying, “Climate change is at the top of our environmental agenda having set an early goal of a carbon neutral Games.” Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee has officially made “Environment” the third pillar of the Games, after “Sport”, and “Culture”.

However, while VANOC has planned other initiatives, such as making venues more energy efficient, it has not yet said how it intends to tackle the biggest part of its carbon footprint – the estimated 69 per cent from the air travel to and from the event by participants, officials, sponsors, employees, media and spectators.

In 2007, VANOC asked the David Suzuki Foundation to produce an estimate of the 2010 Games’ greenhouse gas emissions. The estimate was roughly 328,000 tonnes – the equivalent of approximately 65,600 cars on the road for one year.

The report also estimated that it would cost less than $5 million to make the Games carbon neutral (assuming $15/tonne for offsets). This sum represents 0.3 per cent of VANOC’s current operating budget of about $1.76 billion.

“We're encouraging VANOC to lead by example and use the inspirational power of the Olympics. Let’s show the world that together we can put effective climate change solutions into action," said rower Adam Kreek, a Beijing Olympic gold medallist.

There is concern among winter Olympic athletes that global warming will affect the future of winter sports due to decreased amounts of snow and ice.

“Throughout my 15-year career as a cross-country skier, I have seen the seasons becoming less predictable, and races being cancelled more frequently due to lack of snow, said Sara Renner, an Olympic silver medallist, and one of the founding members of Play it Cool, an initiative by athletes to raise awareness of the impact of climate change on sports.

“I am concerned about the future of the sports we love, but also about the next generation of Canadians, who will be left to deal with even more serious climate change impacts if we don’t act now.”

You can read the athletes’ letter to VANOC, and see a full list of signatures, online here. You can also add your own name to the letter.
Learn more about Play it Cool at playitcool.ca.

Source: David Suzuki Foundation

Slideshow of the participating athletes