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Progressive climate change is shortening the winter periods in the mountains and thus jeopardizing the long-term staging of winter sports competitions at many existing locations.
The selection of demonstrably climate-safe venues is the most important adaptation strategy to minimize the risk for future Winter Games.
Bringing the Paralympic Winter Games forward to the colder months of January or February is crucial, as the current format in March has a significantly higher climate risk.
Technical snowmaking is now indispensable for the future of the Games, but requires an increase in sustainability through efficient systems and renewable energies.
Summary of this study
Winters are changing and reshaping winter sports around the world. This paper identifies a range of strategies to promote climate resilience of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and explores the challenges associated with two key climate adaptation actions. (1) The selection of climate-safe venues is essential to minimize risk for future Games. This also raises the question of whether the current "One Bid, One City" partnership for the Winter Games can remain in place in times of climate change. (2) There is widespread criticism of the dependence on technical snowmaking for the Winter Games. How important is snowmaking for the future of the Winter Games and how can it be made more sustainable?
Findings from this study
- Threat from climate change: The ongoing climate change is shortening the winter periods in the northern hemisphere and jeopardizing the infrastructure and the safety of the athletes due to decreasing snow reliability. As the climatic reliability of many former venues is decreasing, the long-term staging of the Games in their traditional form is threatened without comprehensive adjustments.
- Prioritizing climate-safe venues: The selection of hosts whose venues are demonstrably climate-safe until at least the middle of the century is the most important strategy for minimizing risk. The IOC has already introduced new criteria to ensure that future Games are only held at venues that offer reliable conditions despite global warming.
- Adjusting the timing of the Paralympics: The Paralympic Winter Games currently taking place in March are exposed to a significantly higher climate risk than the Olympic Games in February due to the warmth of spring. Bringing both events forward to the colder months of January and February would massively increase the number of potentially suitable locations and strengthen the resilience of the entire format.
- Indispensability and sustainability of snowmaking: Without technical snowmaking, it would no longer be possible to hold the current snow sports program at almost any of the potential locations. As the demand for machine-made snow will continue to rise, the sustainability of this measure must be urgently improved through highly efficient systems and the use of renewable energies in order to refute ecological criticism.