In environmental terms, Rio 2007 produced excellent results. This was evidenced by the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions during the Pan American Games conducted by COPPE/UFRJ. According to this survey, in addition to the use of renewable sources of energy, energy use compensation and mitigating measures during the event ensured a drastic decrease in emissions, minimizing contributions to global warming and providing opportunities for event-generated carbon neutralization.

In an effort to stage ecologically stable Games, a pioneering strategy for event organizations was adopted, deploying several impact mitigating actions, including: reforestation of green areas, waste management (selective garbage collection, cooking oil recycling, reuse of construction waste), energy management (the official Games fleet ran on alternative fuels), workforce uniforms partially made of recycled materials, strict criteria for the procurement of certified timber, and many others.

- Significant advancements were achieved during the Games, including making athletes aware of the importance of organic waste recycling, transformation of animal manure into fertilizers, rainwater reuse, and others.  We can say that we have left yet another legacy – an environmental legacy from the organization of large sport events - reported Rio 2007 Special Secretariat/Environment Coordinator and current City Hall environmental protection coordinator Luiz Eduardo Pizzotti.

In fact, even before the Games started, Rio 2007 already achieved significant comparative advantages when measured against other large international sporting events.  This can be explained by the fact that the renewable portion of the Brazilian energy matrix counterbalances its natural carbon cycle. As several other measures were implemented, it can be said that the Pan American Games actually promoted a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

- Water and sugar cane by-products, for example, accounting for about 40% of country’s energy production, are said to be ‘cleaner’ than fossil fuels. That alone enables preventing most of the gas emissions caused by any event - explained Luciano Basto, the executive coordinator of the 115-page study.

As to activities targeting carbon neutralization, the most evident ones are the reforesting actions. For this reason, one of the Pan American Games’ priority actions - planting of 100,000 Atlantic Forest native trees over 40 hectares (called the Green Corridor) has already started. This action will compensate for the equivalent of 16,000 tons of carbon gas and reintegrate Tijuca Forest National Park into the Pedra Branca State Park. This will further enable regenerating and enlarging the largest urban forest in the world.

For this analysis, COPPE used the methodology adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to the prepare assessments on the emission of greenhouse gasses,  adapting it to the specific case of municipal scale activities, and more precisely to the study on the city of  Rio de Janeiro (COPPE, 2000 and 2005).

Established in 1963, COPPE/UFRJ is the largest engineering teaching and research center in Latin America.  More than nine thousand students have received their Master’s and PhD degrees from COPPE/UFRJ, which has today a faculty of 300 professors and three thousand students.  On the international front, COPPE/UFRJ has several cooperative projects developed jointly with various scientific institutions of international repute, and COPPE students are working at the research institutions of several countries.  Six of COPPE’s professors contributed to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winning work of the IPCC.

The Rio 2007 Pan American Games, held between July 13-29 last year, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, were considered by the Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) President, Mario Vazquez Raña, “the best in history.”  A total of 5,634 athletes from the 42 American countries competed in the or Rio 2007 Pan Am Games and 1.3 million people attended the events. The Games generated a number of legacies such as Olympic-level sports facilities, qualified knowledge in the organization of major sports events and the joint organization in the same city, for the first time in the entire history of the Games, of the Pan American Games and Parapan American Games.