The 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in a region of Italy that is rapidly losing its ski resorts due to global warming. At the same time, the companies sponsoring the competition are among the country's biggest polluters, responsible for large-scale CO2 emissions. This has drawn harsh criticism from scientists and athletes themselves.
According to Euronews, the community is outraged by the sponsorship of oil and gas giant Eni, Italian national airline ITA Airways, and car manufacturer Stellantis.
A region where snow is disappearing
The mountains of northern Italy will be the venue for the world's premier winter competition. Most of the sports venues are located in the Dolomites. This region is one of the most vulnerable to climate change in the country.
The organizing committee has already announced that it will generate nearly 2.5 million cubic meters of artificial snow. The reason is that there is not enough natural snow cover in the region due to global warming.
In total, 265 Italian ski resorts have lost their winter potential over the past five years. Studies confirm that mountain regions are the most severely affected by climate change.
Winter Games bringing eternal summer closer
This sporting event is so large-scale that it causes significant greenhouse gas emissions. A recent report by Scientists for Global Responsibility and the New Weather Institute shows that the Games will release about 930,000 tons of emissions into the environment.
However, sponsorship agreements with polluting corporations will add another 1.3 million tons of emissions to this anti-climate effect.
Scientists cite more vivid examples of the impact of this year's Olympic Games. This event alone will cause the loss of 5.5 km2 of the planet's snow cover. In terms of area, this is equivalent to 3,000 Olympic-sized hockey rinks.
“Winter sports themselves contribute to this effect both directly through carbon emissions, and by promoting major polluters via advertising and sponsorship. But it also means that winter sports can be part of the solution, by improving their own actions and refusing dirty sponsors,” emphasised Scientists for Global Responsibility director Stuart Parkinson.
Re-examining the Olympic climate ethics
The scientific report claims that the Olympic Games can and must take steps to reduce their harmful climate impact. The top recommendation is to end sponsorship contracts with polluters.
“It is unjustifiable for winter sports to give oil companies a platform that helps them appear as if they are making a positive contribution to society. It’s a complete contradiction, since the fossil fuel industry is the biggest driver of climate change and the disappearance of winter, thereby threatening the very existence of winter sports,” said biathlete from Greenland Ukalek Slettemark.
In addition to reviewing sponsorship, it is also critically important to avoid the construction of new sports venues and infrastructure, as well as to reduce the number of spectators traveling to the event by air.
EcoPolitic previously reported that the past three years have simultaneously been the three hottest years in the history of observations. Scientists cite greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use as the main cause of global warming.
