Today is two years until the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Since 2005, the Commission has seen many ‘firsts’ from London 2012: the carbon footprinting of the Games, the Food Vision, the existence of the Commission itself and much impressive work all helping London 2012 fulfil its aim to be the ‘most sustainable Games of modern times’.
Ambitious targets such as ‘zero-waste to landfill at Games-time’ are on track to be achieved. The picture to date has been overwhelmingly positive. However over the next two years, risks around delivering the sustainability targets will increase as budget and time constraints become tighter. The Commission will continue to monitor progress closely.
Hosting an Olympic Games is an inherently unsustainable thing to do. To mitigate this, the net amount of benefit to the environment or society of staging the Games needs to be greater than the damage done. The learning and knowledge from the London 2012 programme must be captured, disseminated to the public and private sectors and applied to all major projects going forward.
You can read more about the ‘Two Years to Go’ celebrations on the London 2012 website.
You can also listen to an interview with Shaun McCarthy, Chair of the Commission, on BBC 5 Live. Shaun McCarthy on BBC Five Live (The interview is at 36 minutes 15 seconds into the programme)
