Going Green: Heat is rising in Paris as Olympics draw near​

Unfortunately, that could be right and it not only poses a threat for the athletes competing in Paris and France this year but for the future of the summer games entirely.

Since 1924, the temperature in Paris has risen by 1.8 degrees. That might not sound a lot but it can make a real difference to competitors who are already at capacity in terms of body temperature due to exertion.

A new report called “Rings of Fire: Heat Risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics”, says the 2021 games held in Tokyo – which saw the mercury rise to temperatures above 34 degrees “offered a window into an alarming, escalating norm for Summer Olympics”.

It’s not outlandish at all to think Paris could surpass Tokyo for temperatures either based on what we’ve seen in the French capital in the last several decades.

Paris has experienced 50 heatwaves in the last 76 years. Since 1947, they’ve been increasing in frequency and intensity – due to global warming.

In 2003, in July and August – the same months as the Olympic Games will be held – a heatwave across the country resulted in more than 14,000 excess deaths.

Put that into context of sports like the heptathlon, track, marathons, rowing, hockey, tennis and football and there could be serious health risks for the athletes who’ve spent the last four years working hard to compete for their country.

Talking about the Tokyo Olympics, the report goes on to say: “Competitors vomited and fainted at finish lines, wheelchairs were deployed to carry athletes away from sun-scorched arenas and the fear of dying on court was even raised mid-match by the Tokyo Games’ number two seeded tennis player Daniil Medevev.”

The International Olympic Committee have said: “Unfortunately, the level of environmental heat stress experienced by elite athletes will continue to rise in the coming years due to a combination of the increased prevalence, intensity and duration of … heat waves that are occurring due to climate change, and sport globalisation leading to more competitions being organised in extremely hot climates.”

The International Olympic Committee are doing what they can to make sure the games are as green as possible this year. Paris 2024 is set to be the first major tournament to hopefully benefit, not harm the planet.

There’s no new venues being built. 1000km of cycle lanes will be built in Paris and 200,000 trees planted plus the River Seine has been cleaned for swimming. Brands are also getting involved in the green ideals, but unfortunately not all is as it seems with the Games’ big sponsors. Toyota were using the Olympics to promote their cars but they’ve ended their sponsorship after being accused of ‘sport washing’ – the equivalent of green washing where brands use events to try and improve their green credentials.

Celebrity spot

Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has a new show; "An Optimist's Guide to the Planet," which goes around the world meeting activists and scientists helping create solutions for environmental problems. He says: I'm not trying to diminish challenges because they’re real and we have to keep talking about them. What I want to address is how we talk about them. Always using fear as a motivator, that's not good.”

Green swap

With the Euros now in full swing, why not drink your favourite draft beer from a keep cup rather than beer in bottles or cans. Draft beers have a carbon footprint around seven times smaller than bottled ones.​

​Reduce your carbon footprint with a staycation

​​It’s school holidays time, but research has found an incredible 73 percent of Brits are more likely to opt for a staycation in the next 12 months than they are to go abroad.

This is great news for the UK economy and brilliant for tackling pollution from flights that contribute to climate change by changing the way we travel and holiday.

However, if you’re one of the 27 percent who isn’t quite convinced, there’s plenty on our shores to enjoy without significantly increasing your carbon footprint. Firstly, have a think about where you holiday.

We have 15 national parks in the UK. From the Cairngorms to Dartmoor they’re spread across the country and between them enjoy over 26,000 hectares. They’ve got campsites, access trails, rivers, lakes, streams and plenty of advice on ways you can enjoy them and keep them pristine for generations to come.

It’s not just about the location though. Centreparcs have reduced single use plastic across their sites, use solar panels to power their head office and when they pledged in 2010 to reduce carbon emissions by 2020 they reached the target two years early reducing their carbon footprint by 14,000 tonnes.

The Greener Camping Club is a great website where you can search for sites and they’re committed to sustainable, eco friendly campsites.

National Trust Holidays is the website where you can find properties on sites across the UK where you can stay and the money you pay goes to keeping the National Trust going.

Similarly you can also stay in English Heritage Cottages across the country. They’re all heritage buildings that are being preserved by people who really care and want to keep them around for future generations.

Canopy and Stars are a camping website with sites for camping and glamping across the UK. Their green credentials are on their website and they publish an annual impact report, which details their successes and the challenges they’ve faced while working to make our business a force for good.

While location and accommodation are important, what you do when you’re staycationing can have an impact too. Use local public transport where you can, stick to trails and take only photos.

Use solar powered chargers for phones and other tech. if you’re camping, solar powered fairy lights and lamps are fab. Use second-hand websites for things like camping gear and tents – lots of families think they’ll love it then sell everything after a couple of uses.

Finally, if you’re one of the ones who have booked to go abroad this year, maybe think about next year’s holiday when stuck in an airport queue and book early for a Great British vacation.

Fact or fiction

100 percent. Increase in cost of Spanish olive oil due to climate change affecting crops. Fiction. Olive oil in Spain has gone up by a massive 272 percent due to prolonged drought which has decimated crops and global inflationary pressures.