Climate News
Milan Cortina and a shrinking winter: how outlets covered climate change at the 2026 Games
Climate change ran through the coverage of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Climate Home News reported on 4 February that a 2024 study projects the number of cities reliably cold enough to host the Winter Games will fall from 87 to 52 by the 2050s, and that the Paralympics, usually held in March, face an even greater threat. About 85% of the competition venues already existed, and organisers planned to use significantly less artificial snow than at previous Games, with HVO biofuel in snow machines for the first time.
NBC Chicago, citing a Climate Central analysis, reported that February temperatures in Cortina have risen 6.4°F since it first hosted the Games in 1956, and that the Games need more than three million cubic yards of artificial snow. Carbon Brief reported that the IOC was discussing holding future winter Games earlier in the year because of warmer temperatures.
"The most effective way to cut construction emissions is to avoid unnecessary construction in the first place." — Julie Duffus, IOC head of sustainability, via Climate Home News
How each outlet framed it
- Climate Home News — the emissions side, including an estimate that the Games' footprint is similar to Somalia's annual emissions, and a petition of more than 20,000 people against sponsor Eni.
- The Interpreter — the Lowy Institute's site in Australia argued that the IOC's 100% renewable electricity for snowmaking does not end the dependence on artificial snow, pointing to a 203,000 cubic metre reservoir built in Livigno.
- NBC Chicago — the athletes' side: icier artificial snow can make races faster and more dangerous.
- Carbon Brief — the calendar question of moving future Games earlier.
Where the numbers differ: Climate Home cited a drop from 87 to 52 suitable cities by the 2050s; NBC Chicago said only about half of 90 suitable cities would remain so by the end of the century; The Interpreter described an IOC-funded study in which the number is almost halved by mid-century.