Polluting sponsors add 40% to 2026 Winter Olympics’ carbon footprint: Report
By Editorial Team | January 20, 2026
Just three sponsors add 1.3 million tonnes of CO₂ on top of the Games’ own emissions
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina, Italy, is under threat due to emissions that are melting the ice on which the event depends. A new report found many of the biggest contributors to the carbon pollution accelerating this snow loss are also sponsors of the global event, which begins on February 6.
The report by Scientists for Global Responsibility and the New Weather Institute. found that polluting sponsors will more than double the carbon footprint of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Based only on official data, and excluding emissions related to sponsorship deals with major polluters, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina will cause climate-warming emissions of around 930,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, and lead to an estimated loss of 2.3 square kilometres of snow cover, according to the report. In terms of area, this is equivalent to around 1,300 Olympic-sized ice hockey rinks, and over 14 million tonnes of glacier ice.
Olympics pays steep price due to polluters
However, the report found that once the emissions of just three sponsors are accounted for, then there will be an additional 1.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. In other words, there will be 40% more emissions than the Games’ own direct footprint. It will also lead to additional estimated future losses of 3.2 square kilometres of snow cover — the equivalent area of around 1,800 Olympic-sized ice hockey rinks, and over 20 million tonnes of glacier ice.
These sponsors are oil and gas producer Eni, car-maker Stellantis, and ITA Airways. The report found that the total impact for the Games and these sponsorship deals will lead to approximately 5.5 square kilometres of snow cover loss — the equivalent in area of over 3,000 Olympic sized ice hockey rinks, and over 34 million tonnes of glacier ice.
“Even without the growing mountain of scientific evidence on the impact of global heating on winter sports, it is plain enough to anyone visiting actual mountains that snow cover is being lost and glaciers are melting. This report adds to that evidence by showing that winter sports themselves contribute to that impact both directly through their carbon emissions and by promoting major polluters through advertising and sponsorship. But this also means that winter sports can be part of the solution, by cleaning up their own acts and dropping dirty sponsors,” said Stuart Parkinson, climate scientist and lead author of the report.
According to the report, Italy, the 2026 Winter Olympics host, has lost a reported 265 ski resorts in the past five years. On the other hand, France, host of the 2030 games, has also seen the loss of over 180 Alpine ski resorts, while Switzerland has seen 55 ski lifts and cable cars closed.
The gradual melting of snow due to global warming has led to a decline in winter sports, with the Games increasingly dependent on artificial snow.
“The Winter Olympics once showed it can lead progress. Inspired by athletes, health experts and scientists saying what was at stake, it was the Calgary Games in 1988 that took a decisive stand against tobacco advertising and sponsorship. That ultimately rid the Olympics, and sport more widely of tobacco’s lethal influence. Now the death toll due to air pollution from burning fossil fuels is on a par with tobacco, it’s time for the Olympics to follow its own precedent, and end a link that threatens not just its athletes, but its very existence,” said Andrew Simms, co-director of the New Weather Institute.