2030 Olympics: Opponents of the Winter Games in the Alps file a double appeal to obtain a public debate

What if the Alpes-2030 Olympic project violates French and international law? A group of citizens has just taken their concerns to a United Nations regulatory body and the administrative court. For months, these Alpine residents have been asking the organizing committee and public authorities for a debate on the mega-event planned for their hometown, with its significant snow requirements and the construction of hosting infrastructure. But until now, their denunciation of the impact these Winter Games will have, while mountain ecosystems are being damaged by global warming, has been met with a wall of silence.

"This is the first time that citizens have challenged before the UN the lack of public participation measures in the process of organizing the Olympic Games by the project leaders, in order to monitor compliance with the Aarhus Convention signed and ratified by France [in 2002] ," explains Jérôme Graefe, the lawyer in charge of the request. In doing so, Paris has committed to guaranteeing the right to information, participation in decision-making, and access to justice on environmental issues.

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