Challenge of frugal and green Winter Olympics

The International Olympic Committee recently awarded the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to Beijing, which will host the sports gala with Zhangjiakou, a city in the neighboring Hebei province.

In the West, the response has been apprehensive, presumably because of concerns over rising costs and environmental damage. Indeed, the pride of hosting the Olympics has lost much of its luster in recent years. The Athens 2004 Summer Olympics left Greece with $11-billion in debt, and the cost of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics soared to $51 billion.

Last year, the IOC presented its Olympic Agenda 2020 aimed at promoting sustainability and reducing costs. The agenda seeks to transform the Olympics into a "plug-and-play" event. Moreover, selected host cities must fit the games into their environment with minimal damage.