The Winter Olympics are over, but the responsibilities remain ignored

The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games have concluded amidst celebrations and medals. But as the spotlights fade, a question remains that we can no longer avoid: what are we truly celebrating?

It is a question that concerns the Games just finished and the Paralympics about to begin. More importantly, it concerns an idea of sport that should be accessible and fair for everyone — an idea that is currently under threat.

We are facing a structural contradiction that undermines the very essence of the Winter Games: an event that depends on climate stability, the presence of snow, and the survival of Alpine ecosystems. All of these attempts to coexist with a funding system that continues to include and legitimize companies whose core business is fueling the climate crisis.

It is absurd that Eni, a fossil fuel giant, is associated with winter sports while its emissions contribute to shortening snowy seasons and melting glaciers. Similarly, the presence of companies like Leonardo, a major player in the defense sector, further broadens the scope of the issue. What is presented as progress — through innovative and technological tools — risks turning the Olympics into a venue where industries deeply linked to environmental degradation and global instability are normalized.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) can no longer consider itself neutral. Eni is responsible for the pollution it causes, but the IOC is equally responsible for the partners it chooses.

More and more athletes are taking a stand, denouncing the inconsistency between declared climate commitments and partnerships with the fossil fuel industry. This is not a symbolic battle; it is an act of accountability by those who experience the effects of the climate crisis firsthand. We cannot accept sport being used as a tool of legitimization for those compromising the very conditions of its existence.

Scientific studies are clear: by 2080, more than half of the locations currently suitable for hosting the Winter Olympics will no longer be viable, as demonstrated by a 2024 scientific study commissioned by the International Olympic Committee itself. This is not a distant scenario, but a trajectory already visible in retreating glaciers and the changes we witness year after year.

The risk, which is already unfolding, is that of transforming the Olympics into a massive greenwashing operation — a global stage where universal values are celebrated while accepting funding that openly contradicts them.

The time for ambiguity is over. One either stands on the side of the ecological transition or continues to support a model that is eroding the material foundations of sport and life within these territories.

The Olympics are not just any event; they are one of the few global moments capable of shaping public imagination, behavior, and political priorities. Continuing to host sponsors linked to fossil fuels sends a precise message: that the climate crisis can be ignored or reframed for convenience, but not truly addressed.

Then there is the more concrete legacy concerning the territories: invasive infrastructure, land consumption, increased emissions, and pressure on local ecosystems. Too often, host communities are left to manage environmental and social costs that far outweigh the promised benefits.

The end of these Games cannot be dismissed as the simple closing of a cycle; it must be a turning point. We need the capacity to imagine a different future. If these Games are to leave a legacy, let it finally be a break from the model that has made them part of the problem.

The International Olympic Committee holds a historical responsibility and a transformative power that can only be realized by severing all ties with the fossil fuel industry and truly aligning the Games with global climate goals. This is not merely a statement of principle, but a concrete choice. If the Olympics want to continue representing values such as excellence and respect, they must stop being funded by that which threatens their future.

The truth is simple and can no longer be postponed: there will be no Winter Olympics without winter. To defend sport today also means to defend the climate.

This article is also published on Greenpeace, in Italian. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

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