The construction of new infrastructure to host the Olympic Games is immense and could potentially alter local ecosystems forever. In the early 1990s, due to public concern over environmental issues, the International Olympic Committee found a need to promote sustainable development. After the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France had left a devastating impact on the environment: once heavily forested areas and their abundant wildlife were destroyed to make room for new sports infrastructure. Following the devastation, the IOC felt the pressure to fulfill a wide spread transnational value of environmental sustainability. By the time the next Olympic Games occurred, the International Olympic Committee had completely altered its philosophy regarding environmental sustainability. It now has policies that require host countries to follow certain environmental procedures for any Olympic Games. Yet an obvious limitation is that the IOC governs itself, so the legitimacy of their claims on environmental sustainability is questionable. Nevertheless, the policies show that transnational organizations can change.
Contributed by Brandon Farnsworth
Course: Modern Global Environmental History
Instructor: Dr. Wilko Graf von Hardenberg
University of Wisconsin–Madison, US
- Holden, Meg, Julia Mackenzi, and Robert VanWynsberghe. “Vancouver’s Promise of the World’s First Sustainable Olympic Games.” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy (2008): 882–905.
- Cantelon, Hart, and Michael Letters. “The Making of the IOC Environmental Policy as the Third dimension of the Olympic Movement.” International Review for the Sociology of Sport (2000): 294–308.