NGOs complains over Tokyo Games environmental record

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Tokyo 2020 Olympics came under major criticism on Monday from environmental groups for alleged exploitation of tropical rain forests and potential human rights violations.

47 NGOs, including Greenpeace, sent an open letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which says there is mounting evidence the Tokyo Games have been using timber through companies associated with illegal logging and human and labor rights violations. They added that organizers had not been transparent about the sourcing of the wood used in construction projects for the Games.

Tokyo 2020 Emblems Selection Committee Chairperson Ryohei Miyata (R) and committee member Sadaharu Oh present the winning design of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games during its unveiling ceremony in Tokyo, Japan April 25, 2016. /Reuters Photo

“Mounting evidence that Tokyo 2020 is exploiting tropical forests and potentially fueling human rights violations is jeopardizing the Olympic commitment to sustainability and respect for human dignity,” they said.

“We urge the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 authorities to immediately disclose the timber supply chain associated with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, including the origin and volume of all tropical wood used, and to halt further use of wood from tropical forests and other high risk sources.”

Tokyo Games organizers could not be immediately reached for a comment.

Tokyo’s preparations for the Olympics have been anything but smooth with projected costs ballooning to more than 26 billion US dollars, though organizers reduced that to 16.8 billion US dollars late last year.

“Unfortunately, the Tokyo 2020 authorities have been secretive about the timber used for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and have failed to take sufficient action to mitigate the risk of using illegal and unsustainable tropical timber,” the letter said.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games emblems are displayed at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo July 24, 2015. /Reuters Photo

The group of signatories, which includes the Center for International Environmental Law in the United States and Germany’s Gesellschaft fuer Oekologische Forschung (Society for Environmental Research), said sourcing from controversial suppliers, with a record of tropical forest destruction and violating logging practices, was a contradiction of Olympic values and commitments.

This is not the first time environmental groups have raised concerns over the use of timber for the Tokyo Games, with the IOC pushing to reduce the size and cost of future Games due to potential hosts getting scared off in recent years.

The relocation of Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market, a popular tourist destination, to build an access road that will cut down travel time for athletes has also been an environmental problem. It has been delayed because of concerns about the pollution at its proposed new home, which includes unsafe levels of cancer-causing benzene.

Source(s): Reuters