From the Paris Agreement to the ‘greenest games in history’: Why France deserves a top spot on the podium

Sean Kidney , CEO, Climate Bonds Initiative

The Olympic Games are underway in Paris, captivating to watch, and with no shortage of stories of courage, determination, teamwork, and passion triumphing over adversity. 

Behind the scenes is another story of success: in the context of the challenge we face with climate change, Paris has set a new bar for the greening of the games.

Climate change impacts are now being felt. On the eve of the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a stark warning on the world’s “extreme heat epidemic”, calling on countries to phase out fossil fuels to address the effects of “crippling heat”. This came the week that the European Union’s climate monitor recorded the three hottest days on record. 

At the Olympics, average July/August temperatures in the French capital have increased by 3.1C since Paris last hosted the Olympics one hundred years ago. And as a heatwave sweeps across France during the Games, there have been concerns for athletes’ health. 

The Paris Agreement: raising the bar

The shadow that global warming casts over the Games is a stark reminder of the urgent need to accelerate ambitious global action on climate change. It has been nearly a decade since the Paris Climate Agreement, when France, against all odds, secured a global agreement to combat climate change. 

Paris has form when it comes to bringing people from around the world together to achieve extraordinary things. 

Since 2015 France has maintained a leading position when it comes to climate action, on everything from clean energy to mass transit. 

It has led on sustainable finance regulation and has been the leader in green, sustainable and social (GSS) bond issuance.

In January 2017, in an effort to accelerate finance flows in support of the goals set in Paris, the French government issued a record-breaking €7 billion green bond, which at that time was the largest green Euro bond ever issued. France’s sovereign green bond set a precedent, with Belgium, Indonesia, Fiji and Nigeria following suit in 2017. There are now more than 50 sovereign GSS bond issuers around the world.

France is still the single largest issuer of green bonds, having placed more than  €70bn to date. The country’s most recent green bond, in January, was 14 times oversubscribed; more than 18% of the national debt now bears the green label.

As of the end of Q3 2023, France overall was the third largest source of GSS bonds after supranationals and the USA - with cumulative volumes of USD488bn from more than 120 French issuers. 

Building a green future 

Another area where France is leading the way is buildings. 

Over the last five years, it has introduced a suite of new buildings laws and regulations aimed at cutting construction and materials-related emissions, reducing energy consumption once buildings are in use, and minimizing the impact of heatwaves through new approaches to insulation and ventilation. 

The approach to buildings at the Paris Olympics has been a case in point. 

Globally, buildings are responsible for over a third of global energy demand, with construction accounting for over a fifth of total global GHG emissions. With the Games promising to cut emissions by 50% compared to London 2012 and Rio 2016, buildings have been a key area for organisers to focus carbon-saving measures. 

Just two of the 35 Olympic venues in Paris are new buildings, with the majority of events spread across the city’s existing sites and arenas, or in temporary structures. 

The Aquatics Centre, built from scratch for the Games and featuring a 4,680 sq. metre solar panel roof that provides around 20% of the venue's electricity needs, is built from wood instead of carbon-intensive concrete, with seats built from recycled plastic bottles. 

Meanwhile, the Olympic Village has been designed as a low-carbon neighbourhood built to withstand a warmer future, with high-performance insulation and sun shades, as well as reversible underfloor plumbing linked to a local geothermal power plant that draws cool water from beneath the surface during the summer and heat from underground in the winter. 

These are the greenest Games in history; fitting in the birthplace of the Paris Climate Agreement. 

The Olympics are a chance to remember the spirit of ingenuity, ambition, and collaboration that allows human beings to reach new heights. This is exactly what we need to speed up action on climate change.

The opportunities afforded by the transition are vast; they will benefit business, nature, and generations to come.

The Olympics are a celebration of humanity; that’s worth fighting for.