Paris 2024 is the first Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to set up an endowment fund that will help consolidate the impact of the Paris 2024 legacy projects. Following the Executive Board meeting, Paris 2024 also backed up its commitment to delivering a sustainable Games by signing the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) Sport for Climate Action initiative.

Today’s Paris 2024 Executive Board meeting was held at the headquarters of the French National Olympic Committee (CNOSF). Among the attendees were Marie-Amélie Le Fur, who has just taken on the role of president of the French National Paralympic Committee (CPSF), and Cyril Moré, newly appointed by the CPSF as its Paralympic athletes’ representative.

For the first time, an Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games has set up an endowment fund to help finance legacy projects.

During the bid phase, Paris 2024 and its partners had already identified an opportunity to create a dedicated resource for driving legacy projects forward.

In approving the fund’s creation, the Executive Board has provided Paris 2024 with a dedicated tool that will maximise their impact by gathering additional funding in the form of donations from Paris 2024’s partner companies, who want to step up their commitment to the committee.

The endowment fund will have its own governance structure, one that will bring the members of the Paris 2024 Executive Board together with private partners. It will be responsible for steering and monitoring the implementation of the Paris 2024 Impact and Legacy Road Map.

The fund will be up and running during the course of 2019, and work will be carried out to determine how it will operate and the initial contribution that will be made.

Tony Estanguet: “What legacy will we leave for the 2024 generation? That is the question that guides our work every day. The creation of the endowment fund will allow us, along with our partner companies, to support and develop legacy-related initiatives so that Paris 2024 can have a specific impact beyond the organisation of the Games.”

Paris 2024 delivers on its commitment to the environment

Following the Executive Board meeting, Tony Estanguet was joined by Niclas Svenningsen, Manager of Global Climate Action at UNFCCC, for the official signing of the Sport for Climate Action initiative, fulfilling the pledge Paris 2024 made at COP24 in Poland last December.

Through this convention, Paris 2024 has committed to promoting best environmental practices, reducing the 2024 Games’ impact on the climate, implementing educational initiatives that focus on climate issues, promoting more sustainable and responsible consumer habits, and supporting climate action.

This action seeks to build on the commitments made by the committee during the bid phase. With 95% of its facilities being temporary in nature or already in place, the Paris 2024 Games is the first to be aligned with the Paris Agreement. Not content with that, the Paris 2024 Organising Committee is already working on a series of measures that will enable it to reduce its emissions:

By leveraging the Games as a testing ground for sustainable innovation: with the use of low-carbon materials in permanent buildings (Athlete and Media villages, which will largely be redeployed as housing after the Games); and the use of recyclable materials in the construction of temporary structures, etc.

By organising the Games differently: making use of short supply chains; reducing food waste; recycling, etc.

Tony Estanguet: “We have made ambitious commitments since the very inception of Paris 2024, all with a view to making this unique project a lever for environmental transition. Today we are restating our goal in conjunction with the UNFCCC by signing the Sports for Climate Action initiative. In bringing everyone involved in Paris 2024 – athletes, partners, stakeholders, spectators, and service providers – on board, we can enhance the impact of our commitment to the planet. Sport has a big role to play.”

Niclas Svenningsen: “ UNFCCC is delighted that Paris 2024 is joining the UN Sports for Climate Action Initiative. Not only are the Olympic and Paralympic Games some of the most visible and respected events in the world, but with Paris as the host city we can expect one of the best games ever. To put climate action and sustainability front and centre in this context, by joining Sports for Climate Action, is tremendously important. By working together, and using the power of sports, we can not only show that climate action can be done in the midst of a world class sports event, but also how it can be done. We are grateful to the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee and to its delivery partners for taking this important step.”