Citing climate change concerns IOC delays decision on host for 2030 Winter Olympics

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has delayed plans to award hosting rights to the 2030 Winter Olympics citing concerns about the impact of climate change on the Games.

Meeting this week, the IOC Executive Board heard a “comprehensive report” from the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games, after which the body was asked to further study the landscape of winter sport with a view to the election of the host of the future editions of the Games

The IOC said talks yesterday led to a wider discussion on climate change, sustainable winter sport, and future opportunities and challenges. The Commission, building on the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 and 2020+5 reform manifestos, outlined a number of proposals and potential challenges around hosting the Winter Games, which could have an impact on future elections.

Having been in conversation with representatives from prospective 2030 host cities Salt Lake City, USA; Vancouver, Canada and Sapporo in Japan, the major proposal disclosed by the IOC is the idea of rotating the Winter Olympics within a pool of hosts.

To ensure climate reliability, a proposal was also put forward that hosts would need to show average minimum temperatures of below zero degrees for snow competition venues at the time of the Games over a 10-year period.

As a result, it was decided to delay choosing a host for the 2030 Games for at least 13 months as it assesses how to hold a February Games on a warming planet.

After a long discussion that included suggestions that future Winter Olympics be held only in places that have average February temperatures of 32 degrees and the possibility of rotating Winter Games among a small pool of places guaranteed to be cold, the executive board decided the IOC needs to study its options before making a choice for 2030.

The IOC said this means it is no longer targeting a 2030 Games host election at its 140th Session in 2023, adding the decision will assist in “providing a clearer picture” for the IOC to make a “sound decision” over the hosting rights.

Explaining the challenge, IOC Executive Director, Christophe Dubi stated “we have preliminary results of leading academic research on the impact of climate change, which shows a potential reduction in a number of climate reliable hosts in the future reduction of number of climate reliable hosts.”

Salt Lake City and Sapporo long have been considered the strongest bids to host the 2030 Games, although consideration is also being given to a double award for 2030 and 2034, similar to the September 2017 decision to award the 2024 and 2028 Summer Olympics to Paris and Los Angeles, to “create stability” for winter sports and the Winter Games. No conclusion was reached, with the IOC adding it needs “more exploration”.

The 2026 Games will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.