The Israel National Olympic Committee will plant 250 trees to help offset emissions incurred during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 as they look to promote sustainability in sports.

Over the past year, the Israel NOC has been focused on helping its sport federations adapt to the climate crisis and signed the United Nations Sports For Climate Action agreement in January 2024.

During Paris 2024, the Israel NOC worked out that the emissions from the delegation’s flights to Paris totalled approximately 220 tons, which is equivalent to the average annual emissions of about 75 medium-sized family cars or from preparing 740,000 cups of espresso or running about 1,000 washing machines at 30 degrees every day for a year.

The planting of a climate forest in the city of Sderot will be carried out by Olympic athletes together with the local community, in a joint project of the NOC, the Sderot Municipality, the Ashkelon Coastal Environmental Unit, the Good Energy Initiative NGO, and the Jewish National Fund, with the aim of strengthening and revitalising the local community and developing social and climate resilience in the spirit of Olympic values.

Yael Arad, Israel NOC President and IOC Member, said: “Planting a community climate forest marks a significant milestone in the Sustainability Strategy Plan led by the NOC of Israel.

“The goal of this initiative is twofold. In one aspect, it promotes an environmental agenda by helping offset the carbon emissions of the Olympic delegation’s flights for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

“In the second aspect, it expresses our social responsibility to strengthen and re-grow the local community in the spirit of Olympic Values, which is why we chose to cooperate with the Sderot Municipality. We thank all partners and believe that in the coming years the Olympic athletes will become agents of change in Israeli sports to create a more sustainable society.”