Winter olympic games in Milan worth a medal? Climate ambitions and controversies

In less than a month, the Olympic flame will be lit in Italy, and the whole world will sit in front of screens to follow the emotions of athletes’ competitions. The Winter Olympic Games in Milan are not only races and matches, however, but also a direct confrontation with the realities of climate change.

The ecological footprint of the Olympics

The Winter Olympic Games in Milan will take place from 6 to 22 February, with the participation of 2.9 thousand athletes from 90 countries worldwide. A month later, athletes with disabilities will arrive in Italy in a record group of more than 660 people. Added to this are coaching staff and technical teams, as well as thousands of fans, which translates into enormous emissions from travel, accommodation, and additional services.

This is not the end of the potential costs. The Winter Olympic Games in Beijing four years ago sparked controversy over the felling of 20 thousand trees to make way for new infrastructure.

Winter olympic games in Milan with the bar set high

The International Olympic Committee has been tightening requirements for host cities since 2020 in order to limit the environmental footprint of the Games. Sustainability was one of the guiding slogans of the Summer Olympics in Paris, and now Milan is taking up the challenge, this time in a winter version.

The organizers decided to get ahead of expectations and developed a broad strategy aimed at reducing emissions associated with sporting competitions. Key measures include using 100 percent renewable energy and reducing food waste by donating unused food to charitable organizations. As part of a circular economy approach, Italy purchased part of the Olympic equipment from Paris and declared that 90 percent of the infrastructure would consist of existing and temporary facilities intended for dismantling after the competitions. The Olympic village will be preserved, however, and will serve as a campus for a local university.

Skeptics point out gaps in the ambitious plan. First, the distribution of sports venues across four Italian areas with a record spatial spread will require the construction of as many as six accommodation centers. Second, the construction of the bobsleigh track in Cortina involved the felling of several hundred trees. Water and energy consumption for artificial snow production is also significant, even optimized technology is very costly in this respect. The total carbon footprint, estimated at 1 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, is indeed lower than that calculated for previous Winter Games, but it is hard to ignore.

Will climate change derail athletes’ plans?

Regardless of how fully the organizers of the Winter Olympic Games deliver on their green promises, the entire event will take place under the shadow of advancing climate change. Increasing attention is being paid to athletes’ sensitivity to weather variability, with a clear example being the new ATP rule coming into force this year that allows tennis players 10 minute cooling breaks after the second set.

A study conducted by the University of Waterloo in Canada suggests that by 2050 only 10 locations ofpast Winter Olympic Games will retain their snow potential. A foretaste of the expected complications was last year’s cancellation of Alpine Ski World Cup events in Mont-Tremblant due to above zero temperatures that made artificial snow production impossible.

Fortunately for Milan, January frosts arrived just in time and allowed organizers to breathe a sigh of relief. The president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, Johan Eliasch, expressed optimism in an interview with the Reuters agency about completing preparations on schedule. We are in the hands of the gods, he added cautiously.

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main photo: www.olympics.com/Milano Cortina 2026