Lessons from Beijing: A Look at the Environmental Challenges Faced by China and Brazil as Hosts of the Olympic Games

Resumo

ABSTRACT: The Olympics Committee, in requiring that the environment be a consideration in hosting the Games, has propelled the implementation of several needed projects in the countries of China and Brazil. The Olympics has therefore become the catalyst for the realization of environmental and sustainable projects. China has already completed the bulk of their environmental commitment and several of the lessons learned can be transferred to Brazil as they prepare for the 2016 Olympics. A comparison of the environmental preparations of Beijing and Rio de Janeiro is discussed in this note. As a summary, listed below are nine actions that were taken that contributed to Beijing’ssuccess.

1. Build on Prior Successes – China focused on prior Olympic events to determine what went right (in Sydney) and to shy away from what went wrong (in Atlanta).

2. Conduct a Realistic Assessment and Have Attainable Solutions – China was extremely forthright in their assessment of the causes of their environmental degradation.

3. Involve Everyone – Beijing's environmental efforts brought together Chinese government agencies, multinational corporations, environmental inventors, environmental nongovernmental organizations, United Nations organizations and community leaders to plan and execute the solutions to Beijing’s environmental problem.

4. Have Strong Leadership – One of the reasons projects were pushed through to completion even though there were tough obstacles to overcome was the support and active participation of high level government officials.

5. Provide and Find Financial Support – Even though the environmental improvements in Beijing were US$5 billion more than the original estimates, China met their environmental goals.

6. Promote Environmental Education and Sponsorship – China made a conscious effort to promote environmental education.

7. Measure Environmental and Sustainable Actions – Beijing has been an open book by working with the IOC and the UNEP experts on assessing Beijing’s Olympic environmental performance.

8. Expect the Unexpected – China saw a couple of unexpected events which threatened to derail their environmental and infrastructure development and had to step up their responses.

9. Think Beyond the Olympics – Beijing in their Sustainable Development Plan will continue to implement projects and action items well into 2015 (five years after the conclusion of the Beijing Olympic Games).

For a $17 billion investment in the environment, the Olympic city of Beijing received a significant improvement in air quality; over 90 percent of their waste water is now treated; coal driven facilities were replacement with natural gas, geothermal technology and wind; and the city has set up 20 natural reserves. Rio has initiated its own seven year journey to an environmentally sound Olympics and can learn from the successes andf ailures of previous host cities.

KEYWORDS: China, Brazil, Environment.