The Vanishing Winter: How Climate Change Threatens the Future of the Olympics
The future of the Winter Olympics hangs in the balance. A sobering report indicates that by the conclude of the century, only eight of the 21 cities that have hosted the Games are projected to have the reliably cold conditions needed to stage the event. This reality is forcing organizers, like those behind Milano Cortina 2026, to grapple with increasingly complex challenges – from artificial snow production to establishing transport links in remote areas and constructing new infrastructure.
A Carbon Footprint in the Snow
The environmental impact of the Games is under intense scrutiny. A recent report highlighted that sponsors of Milano Cortina 2026 – including fossil fuel giants Eni, carmaker Stellantis, and ITA Airways – could increase the Games’ carbon footprint by 40%. This equates to melting 3.2 square kilometers of snow cover and 20 million tonnes of glacier ice. The IOC acknowledges the need for improvement, with President Kirsty Coventry stating they are “having conversations in order to be better” regarding climate change.
The Illusion of Sustainability
Defining a “sustainable” Winter Olympics proves remarkably difficult. Research evaluating Olympic sustainability between 1992 and 2020 found that even establishing a baseline for measurement was challenging, with basic data often unavailable. The IOC launched the Olympic Games Impact (OGI) initiative in 2000, featuring 126 sustainability indicators, but it was abandoned in 2017 due to complaints from host cities about its demanding requirements.
This lack of standardized measurement allows organizers to develop sustainability claims without rigorous oversight. Every Olympic Games now claims to be sustainable, but rhetoric often doesn’t align with reality.
The Economics of Ice and Snow
The financial viability of hosting the Olympics is as well under question. Studies demonstrate that the Games are often “loss-making ventures” requiring external subsidies. Every Olympic Games since 1960 has exceeded its initial cost forecasts, with an average overrun of 159% (195% for Summer Games, 132% for Winter Games). Milano Cortina 2026 has already surpassed its original $1.3 billion budget, exceeding $1.7 billion, with an additional $3.5 billion in public investment directed towards infrastructure improvements.
Organizers typically include a 10-15% contingency for cost overruns, but researchers suggest What we have is often based on an “optimism bias” that underestimates future inflation.
A Shift in the Business Model?
The IOC’s revenue structure, heavily reliant on television broadcasting and sponsorship rights (91% of revenue between 2017-2020/21), presents a challenge to prioritizing environmental concerns. Even with no spectators at Tokyo 2020, broadcasting and marketing still accounted for 91% of the IOC’s revenue between 2013-2016.
However, experts believe the IOC could prioritize the environment “more easily than other sectors” without fundamentally altering its business model. Reducing high-carbon tourism, while maintaining media coverage, is seen as a key step.
Potential Solutions: Rethinking the Games
Several proposals aim to address the sustainability challenges. These include a geographical contingency scale for ticket allocation – making travel more expensive – and spreading events across multiple locations to reduce long-distance travel. Choosing hosts with existing venues, rather than building new infrastructure, is also crucial. Some prospective hosts have even expressed a desire to reduce the overall size of the Games.
a fundamental rethinking of the Games may be necessary. As favorable conditions for winter sports develop into scarcer, a reckoning is inevitable, forcing a reevaluation of whose interests arrive first – the athletes and the sport itself, or the economic and logistical demands of a global spectacle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How many cities will be able to reliably host the Winter Olympics by the end of the century?
A: Only eight of the 21 cities that have previously hosted the Winter Olympics are projected to be cold enough to reliably host the Games.
Q: What is the IOC doing to address climate change concerns?
A: The IOC President has stated they are “having conversations in order to be better” in their approach to climate change.
Q: Why is it so difficult to measure the sustainability of the Olympics?
A: Establishing a baseline for measurement is challenging, with basic data often unavailable, and the IOC’s previous sustainability initiative was abandoned due to its rigor.
Q: What is the biggest source of carbon emissions from the Milano Cortina 2026 Games?
A: Spectator travel is estimated to account for 410,000 of the 930,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent produced.
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