Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics criticized for lack of sustainability
As the Beijing 2022 Winter Games open tomorrow, the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps is planning for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games. The NGO invites the organization to “ rethink projects ” and ” reduce dimensions to achieve the goal of sustainable Olympics set by the International Olympic Committee.
The Cortina D’Ampezzo ski jump, abandoned since 1990.
© Zdeněk Macháček / CIPRA
In an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) calls for the construction projects planned for the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games to be reviewed and scaled down.
” Past mistakes should not be repeated. »
CIPRA
Public debt and abandoned equipment
The international NGO, which acts in favor of sustainable development and works for the protection of the Alps, recalls first of all the public debt and the infrastructures left abandoned by the Turin Games in 2006 and regrets the absence of consultation Population.
The decay of Winter Games facilities is not a new problem. A legacy of the Grenoble Olympics, the Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte springboard is still there more than fifty years later, under the Trois Pucelles. In Cortina d’Ampezzo, the ski jump, built in 1955, has not been used since 1990.
Examples of infrastructure sustainability still exist. In Albertville, all the equipment built for the Olympic Games, which are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, are still in operation or have been converted.
“Assault on the Dolomites”
The IOC has set itself sustainability objectives in its “Agenda 2020”, in particular the maximum use of existing facilities or temporary and removable sites and the organization of competitions outside the host city or even in neighboring countries.
However, CIPRA finds it hard to believe, recalling that the development of sustainable tourism is already part of the requirements of the Alpine Convention, which came into force in 1995. The organization of the 2026 Winter Games has nevertheless planned that the events take place in several locations (Milan, Valtellina, Cortina, Val di Fiemme), relying on a large number of existing facilities, both for sport and for transport and accommodation.
The environmental organization of the Alpine arc points in particular to the project to build a new bobsleigh run in Cortina. Named in honor of the Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti, it would cost, according to CIPRA, a minimum of 60 million euros. “ There would be cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives “, according to the NGO. Sixteen years after the Turin Olympics, the Cesana Pariol bobsleigh track is also in a state of neglect, but it is that of Innsbruck-Igls, in Austria, that CIPRA is proposing for the Milan Games- Cortine.
” The organization of the Winter Olympics must be drastically redesigned, starting with all the oversized infrastructure constructions. »
For limited, decentralized proofing at existing sites
For Vanda Bonardo, President of CIPRA Italy, “ the organization of the Winter Olympics must be drastically rethought, starting with all the oversized infrastructure constructions. Now is the time to do it. Without tangible results, it will no longer be possible to envisage holding the Olympic Games in the Alps in the future.. »
For CIPRA, “ the Winter Olympics could only be sustainable if they host far fewer disciplines, with fewer people on site, and if they are held only in facilities that already exist and in regions of the world where the climate is warmer. you are ready. And suggests relying on modern technologies to continue to bring the Olympic spirit to life worldwide.