Paris Olympics promise climate action, experts remain sceptical [Video]

Organisers of the 2024 Paris Olympics promised to take “unprecedented” action for the climate by halving the carbon footprint of previous Games and financing projects to reduce planet-heating greenhouse gases.

But experts remain sceptical, especially after organisers dropped a pledge to set a hard limit on its overall carbon cost.

About one-third of the heat-trapping emissions from the three-week spectacle is expected to come from transport, with millions of athletes, spectators, staff and journalists flying into Paris.

Organisers opted mostly for pre-existing or temporary infrastructure to host the event, avoiding the significant environmental cost from carbon-intensive building materials like concrete and steel.

But the Games’ sustainability credentials took a hit when an initial commitment to set a definite ceiling on emissions at 1.58 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent was dumped.

“The quantified target, which was the big step forward compared to previous Games and was announced with great fanfare, has …