The Commission is now confident that LOCOG is on track to meet its commitment to achieving 20% carbon reduction related to Games-time energy use.
LOCOG’s original target was that 20% of Games-time electricity would come from new local renewable sources. However, in April 2011 LOCOG confirmed a new approach to this target through the use of “energy conservation measures to achieve carbon savings equivalent to its original renewable energy target for the Olympic Park at Games-time”, once it became clear that it would be impossible to meet the target using renewable energy[1].
In the Commission’s review into the preparations to stage a sustainable Games (In sight of the finishing line) in 2012, we recommended that “LOCOG produce an energy management and conservation plan demonstrating how it will reduce carbon emissions by at least the amount that would have been avoided through the renewable energy target, in sufficient time for its recommendations to be implemented”. This followed up on a previous recommendation in our 2010 Annual Review, published in April 2011, “That LOCOG calculates the carbon that would have been saved through the renewable energy target and demonstrates how this carbon will be saved through reducing Games time energy use”.
The Commission’s most recent pre-Games report (Breaking the tape) was critical of the time being taken to develop a comprehensive plan and highlighted that further work was needed.
However, LOCOG has now adopted its Energy Conservation Plan, and we are satisfied that it is on track to meet its 20% energy reduction target. The Commission will seek to assure the implementation of the plan during Games-time.
In its pre-Games review, the Commission further recommended that London 2012 ensure that “benchmarks are available for future Games to facilitate more responsible energy use”. LOCOG’s Energy Conservation Plan is essential in delivering the evidence necessary for such benchmarking, which would provide a positive piece of legacy if the data is made public for future Games and more widely to the events sector.
