Climate-positive Olympic Games to be staged in Paris 2024, says IOC president Bach

PARIS -- IOC president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday in a meeting with French president Emmanuel Macron that the post-COVID-19 Paris Olympic Games in 2024 could be staged in a "climate positive" way.

Bach, accompanied by the head of the organizing committee for the Paris Games, Tony Estanguet, was received by Macron at the Palais de L'Elysee in Paris on Wednesday.

"Sustainability is one of the pillars of the reform programs of the IOC, which is also a carbon neutral organization," Bach said.

President Macron praised the power of the Olympic Games to unite the whole world, especially during and after the current health crisis.

The two men also discussed the project to adapt the Olympic Games to the post-coronavirus world by taking a simplified approach while respecting the planned budget and preserving the message and values conveyed by the Olympic Games.

French news agency AFP reported that the organizing committee will review the risk of extra expenditure for the Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of this year.