MIT Sloan Management Review Article on How the 2024 Paris Olympics Fast-Tracked Decarbonization

Paris pledged to radically reduce its greenhouse gas emissions compared with recent Olympic Games. Here’s what the team learned on the fly.

For the growing number of organizations committing to decarbonization, meeting their goals can take a frustrating amount of time. The decarbonization journey is a nontraditional marathon — with a lot of ambiguity regarding the nature of the track — and many organizations struggle to identify where to start and how to scale their decarbonization efforts. We believe that these “marathon runners” can learn a lot by observing sprinters running on the same track. In particular, the fast-paced decarbonization effort by the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and Paralympics staff can be illuminating.

In 2017, in a tight race with Los Angeles, Paris won the bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. One of the key reasons that the International Olympic Committee eventually selected the city was the Paris 2024 committee’s stated commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by half compared with the average amounts emitted in the preparations for and operations of the London (2012) and Rio (2016) Summer Games. Get Updates on Transformative Leadership

About the Author

Atalay Atasu is a professor of technology and operations management at Insead, where he holds the Bianca and James Pitt Endowed Chair in Environmental Sustainability. Luk N. Van Wassenhove is emeritus professor of technology and operations management at Insead. His major work is in sustainability and humanitarian operations. They cofounded and direct Insead’s Sustainable Business Initiative.

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