5 minute read: Op-Ed Could Climate Change Threaten the Winter Olympics?, Timberland, Maersk, Microsoft, LanzaJet- from the desk of The Green Link’s team.
Op-Ed_
Could Climate Change Threaten the Winter Olympics? | Fewer options for the global event
A new studydone by researchers in Canada, Austria and the U.S. shows that if global greenhouse gas emissions do not dramatically decline, only one of 21 cities that have previously hosted the Winter Olympic Games — Sapporo, Japan — will be able to host safe and reliable conditions for snow sports by the 2080s – just 60 years away.
However, if we are able to curb emissions, “in a low emission scenario aligned to the Paris Climate Agreement, the number of climate reliable hosts remains almost unchanged throughout the twenty-first century (nine in mid-century, eight in late century).”
The 339 athletes who participated in the study expressed fear and frustration over the future of their sport and urgency for the sporting world to be a powerful force to inspire and accelerate climate action.
What exactly can athletes do?
Each Olympic year, the host countries have tended to spend between 6.4 – 15.8B USD on Winter Olympics. What does this money go towards?
- Infrastructure
- Accommodations
- Personnel (travel, food, boarding, wages)
Many of these items are things that we are working hard to decarbonize on a daily basis. Infrastructure, for example, encompasses many heavy industries – cement, steel, transportation…
What if we reimagined the way we spent Olympic dollars? What would happen if we used this platform to showcase national and global innovations for clean technology and decarbonization? We might have windfarms and bioenergy, CCS stations and carbon-sequestering cement. We may offer low-carbon food options to tourists and viewers (we’ll spare the athletes for now!). Let’s use these massive global opportunities to dream – how might we use this as an opportunity to showcase excellence, not only in sport, but also in innovation and progress.
So what can you do?
If you’re part of a sports club that intends to be part of the action – that is, you’ve made your commitments and strategy, but don’t know what’s next, contact us. The Green Linkhelps companies achieve their sustainability goals faster by leveraging AI-enhanced procurement tech scan and a library of 950+ operational best practices & clean technologies.
In the news_
Has launched a program called “Timberloop” that ask customers to return used Timberland products so they can be refurbished or disassembled and then upcycled. Customers will be able to download a free shipping label to return any Timberland product.
[Maersk]
Plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the original 2050 ambition, in efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Initiatives include a 50% reduction in emissions per transported container in the Maersk Ocean fleet and a 70% reduction in absolute emissions from fully controlled terminals.
Is investing $50 million in a LanzaJet facility in Georgia that will produce 10 million gallons of sustainable jet fuel from ethanol next year, from sustainable ethanol, including from waste-based feedstocks
