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#EarthDay2023: Five ways the Olympic Movement is investing in our Planet

April 21 2023 - News Release News Editorial

This year’s Earth Day theme – Invest in our Planet – highlights the importance of investing time and resources in solving climate change and other environmental challenges. The Olympic Movement is playing its part, reducing the footprint of the Olympic Games, using the power of sport to promote innovative solutions, and coming together to make sport more sustainable.

#EarthDay2023: Five ways the Olympic Movement is investing in our Planet

Here are five examples of how the Olympic Movement is investing in our planet:

1 – Sustainable food – Paris 2024 puts it on the menu

The world’s food systems are under enormous pressure, linked to climate change, unsustainable agricultural practices, accelerating biodiversity loss, and soil degradation.

Changing dietary patterns is a large part of the solution.

Paris 2024 will use its platform to demonstrate how a more balanced and environmentally conscious diet can be taken to scale.

Next year’s Olympic Games makes six menu commitments for everyone attending – spectators, athletes, staff, volunteers, the media and the Olympic and Paralympic family – and at all venues. The organisers have committed to:

  • Cutting by 50 per cent the carbon footprint of each meal, compared to an average French meal, thanks to measures such as doubling the amount of plant-based foods;
  • Halving the use of single-use plastic compared to similar events and previous Olympic Games editions, for example, by installing fountains and using returnable glass bottles;
  • Sourcing more locally: 80 per cent of ingredients will be sourced in France, of which a quarter will come from less than 250km away;
  • Fighting food waste with careful portion and quantity control, promoting “zero waste” recipes and and behaviour;
  • Securing the reuse of all catering equipment for future events;
  • Reserving 15 per cent of jobs for people with a disability or disadvantaged people.

The Games are set to serve up some 13 million sustainable meals!

 

 

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