Olympics 2016: Will Rio Be Remembered For Climate Achievements or City Pollution?

The 2016 Rio Olympics were billed as ‘Green Games for a Blue Planet’ during the bidding process which began all the way back in 2006. The Mayor Eduardo Paes believed that the Olympics would help transform Rio both environmentally and socially. As with any Olympic bid it is important that the host city shows the ambition to deliver something unique for the people of its country and to highlight the importance of a worldwide concern.

What was promised? – The legacy plans were that more than 25 projects would overhaul some of the city’s most ‘downtrodden areas.’ Organizers aimed to revitalize the port area and build a new public transportation system, as well as cleaning up Guanabara Bay. Once one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the bay has become full of rubbish and untreated sewage that has been dumped into the streams and rivers that flow into the bay.

What has been done? - According to IG.com Brazil’s economy is not in the same ‘rude health’ as it was when it was awarded the games although fears have abounded over whether it could afford the huge expenditure of the games. According to the Council of the Americas, Brazil had committed an $11.1 billion investment into the games, but that didn’t account for the investment in upgrading existing infrastructure, maintaining security and avoiding health risks to improve the city’s environmental and economic situation.

Many companies such as Bridgestone and Nissan that have chosen to sponsor the Rio Games have a shared commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship and social responsibility.However, some of the sponsors - BP, Dow Chemicals and Rio Tinto - are considered to be some of the worst polluters.

Message in the opening ceremony – The 2016 Rio Olympics kicked off with a spectacular mix of music and dancing to create the perfect carnival atmosphere.Among the celebrations the ceremony brought a very strong message about environment with even the Olympic rings being formed by giant trees. Brazil is home to the largest rainforest in the world, the Amazon, which has been declining for many years now. The message of anti-global warming was clear, re-iterated with the displays around the Olympic flame. Besides this, each athlete was given a seedling to plant in a new ‘Athlete’s Forest’ in the Deodoro zone that has been the venue for sports including rugby sevens, shooting, hockey and equestrianism.

Has Rio delivered?- As with any great sporting event the demands on transport are huge, meaning more pollution chugging out into the air. For the Rio games 100% of spectators and workers were expected to use the new public transport. While big strides and gestures have been made to deliver promises of cleaning up the city, the bay is still dirty, Rio is still in economic crisis and its air is “dirtier and deadlier than its water” according to a study of government data. It seems that, despite the promises, the reality is that the city is still in a bad way. It has certainly gone some way to making improvements but it will take more than the Olympics to clean up Rio.