A key tool for Paris 2024 to achieve its ambitious climate and sustainability goals is its sustainable sourcing strategy.
Paris 2024 will purchase roughly €2.5 billion worth of goods and services, increasing to €5 billion including the contracts that Solideo, public contracting authorities and private partners will award in preparation for the Games. The OCOG has defined five key commitments linked to environmental and social concerns in its contracts.
- Circular economy: suppliers should adhere to circular economy principles, maximising the reduction of waste and the use of non-renewable resources.
- Carbon neutrality and environmental protection: a prioritisation of projects that are carbon neutral and respect the environment in which they are created, favouring projects that cultivate and protect local biodiversity.
- Social innovation: projects that contribute to the overall well-being of society and support human rights objectives will be favoured. This includes projects that address issues such as gender inequality and cultivate social links in the local community.
- Inclusion of people with disabilities: organising a Games that is accessible to all by providing infrastructure and services that permit the inclusion of people with disabilities.
- Local value creation: initiatives should contribute to the overall economic, social and environmental value of the area in which they are situated by providing locals with employment or upskill opportunities and creating links within the community.
The implementation of sustainable sourcing is often more challenging than developing high-level strategies. In the case of Paris 2024, implementation includes the involvement of the sustainability function in developing tenders and bid evaluation and the development of sustainability guidelines for each category. Sustainability and environmental criteria are applied in 100% of the OCOG’s purchases, with a minimum weighting of 20%.
To ensure a level playing field Paris 2024 disseminates information that outlines how suppliers can integrate the sustainability commitments into their bids, including producing educational tools that allow potential bidders to understand the selection criteria. It has also launched “Coach climat”, an application developed to help its own employees understand and reduce their climate impact. This will contribute to establishing sustainability standards in French and international procurement that have a positive and lasting effect beyond the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
To go beyond environmental objectives in the implementation of the Games’ sustainable sourcing strategy, initiatives such as the “Fabrique des jeux”, launched in 2018 by the Seine-Saint-Denis departmental council, have already taken steps to mobilise local small to medium-sized businesses. They conducted workshops in late 2020 to advise on tenders and present the economic and environmental opportunities that Games infrastructure provided. In part as a result of this outreach, Paris 2024 has sourced over 10,000 companies.
Source: Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
