Olympics 2024: Paris Raises Sustainable Purchasing Criteria

Paris 2024, this year's Olympics organiser, will purchase around €2.5bn worth of goods and services to host the games.

This figure raises to €5bn when including the contracts that Solideo, public contracting authorities and private customers will award.

Paris has "aimed high" in its procurement of these services, particularly in its environmental and social standards.

For the 2020 Summer Olympics, organisers also aimed for maximum sustainability by collecting 4.38 million tonnes of carbon credits, covering 150% of the games' emissions.

Despite this, a University of Lausanne report suggests Tokyo may be one of the least sustainable Olympics in recent history.

The report evaluates all Olympics since 1992, considering economic, ecological, and social factors, including budget balance, venue viability, and minimal displacement.

Tokyo ranks just above the 2014 Sochi and 2016 Rio games, known for budget overruns and displacements. Making it unlikely to be among the most sustainable Olympics such as the 1992 Barcelona and Albertville games and the 2002 Salt Lake City games.

Time will tell how Paris' procurement plan works towards its sustainability ranking. 

Paris has emphasised that all organisations, of any size, are welcome to apply for the games' contracts.

Through platforms like ESS2024, in collaboration with Les Canaux, the organisers have aimed to inform SMEs about these opportunities, ensuring every business had an equal chance. 

This broad participation was ensured through the publication of a procurement map, the allowance of joint ventures, and the reservation of certain contracts for organisations supporting those with disabilities or job-seekers. 

It has also encouraged supplier applications from organisations which emphasise five key ESG commitments. 

The games will shine a spotlight on these values through its procurement contracts, creating value beyond the products or services they provide. 

"The Paris 2024 Games are an extraordinary opportunity to boost the social and solidarity economy, which stands by the same values – humanism and helping one another – as the sports world," comments Olivia Grégoire, French Minister of State for the Social, Inclusive and Responsible Economy. 

The organising committee describes their job as "to write a story."

Part of the committee's job is to know how their games' story ends; Paris 2024 has to consider what will happen to the purchases once it has delivered the games.

Will they be returned, resold, donated, transferred or transformed?

The circular economy is important to Paris' games because it reflects its desire for a "legacy for the people", creating second lives for as many products as possible. 

This approach is starting to materialise in the Pulse building, Paris 2024’s HQ. 

Paris 2024 has a stringent set of specifications for the furniture at its new head office and was the first to include the price to buy back the furniture after the games in its call for bids.

The organisers are therefore nudging us to look at things from a new perspective: the cost of using something instead of the cost of owning it.

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