The 2012 Olympics - Real Change for London?

• Posted by Anthony Brown
• On September 08, 2008


• Interests: Corporate Social Responsibility

As an interlude to the otherwise monotonous commute into Central London every morning I pass through an area that, in less than four years time is intending to host the most prestigious global event witnessed in the UK for decades.

The London 2012 Olympic site is currently mud, concrete and an ugly tangle of foundations. Pretty uninspiring stuff, and a far cry from the scenes 3 weeks ago in the Birds Nest, where Usain Bolt delivered his scorched earth performance to become the fastest human being on Earth.

It was an amazing spectacle, but what positive changes have the 2008 Games initiated for the people of Beijing? Many commentators concentrate on the huge impact a relatively primitive programme of traffic reduction has had on the clearing of the Beijing air, and how this has improved the daily lives of Beijing’s population. Is this really a sufficiently positive result considering China is deemed to be one of the largest global polluters, and its organising committee spent 30% ($US 20 billion) of its budget on reducing the environmental impact of the Games?

London 2012 is being painted as a vision of environmental and social harmony. “Towards a One Planet Olympics” is the mantra being promoted by the organising committee, but what will this actually mean for the communities of London and beyond?

Five key themes have been brought together to form the basis of all activities in planning and implementing the 2012 Games; Climate Change, Waste, Biodiversity, Healthy Living and Inclusion. Alongside this is a real drive to ensure that resources for the Games are sourced locally – of the 650 companies so far employed as suppliers to the Olympic Delivery Authority, 98% are UK based, with 70% of those being small to medium sized enterprises. This, coupled with the stringent carbon standards each supplier has to meet regarding their sustainability credentials, is heartening to say the least.  

But for me the Olympics are not about building an Environmentally Sustainable Games- this should be a given, especially considering the UK’s expertise in this field. The key is the development of a socially positive legacy, with sports participation at its core. As the son of a PE Teacher, and massive sports enthusiast, I am passionate about the positive change sport can have on the lives of young people. 

There are currently 2 million people in the UK volunteering at least an hour a week to youth sport- that’s the equivalent of 80,000 full time staff. The opportunities for young people to not only participate, but to take on responsibility when teaching or managing others, whilst utilising first class facilities will be a wonderful boost to a society currently experiencing an alarming growth of youth violence and disengagement. SportEngland have put in place a framework (http://www.sportengland.org/community_sport_legacy.pdf) which, if successful will provide the local and national community with a fantastic legacy for the future not only in the run up to 2012, but much further beyond.

For all its glory, is Beijing going to be the final chapter in a history of fantastically indulgent Games? More importantly, is London going to deliver on its promise of not only a sustainable event, which it must, but also a sustainable legacy?  There is a huge weight of expectancy across the city regarding the Games- there is a feeling that they can provide us all with an opportunity to show off the positives delivered by our multicultural society. Most importantly, I hope the Games deliver opportunities to the young people of London to get involved.

• Tags: olympics,london,development,sustainability

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