The Tokyo 2020 Olympics opens today amid claims that its promise to be the greenest games ever are "greenwashing".
Instead, it is the third-least sustainable Olympics since 1992, according to a new study.
This year's event marks the first Olympics to be carbon neutral and to run entirely on renewable energy, according to its organisers.
"The majority of the measures that have been included in this particular Olympics, and the ones that were particularly mediatised, have a more or less superficial effect," said David Gogishvili, who is co-author of a peer-reviewed study of the games conducted by the University of Lausanne.
"From my perspective, unless the International Olympic Committee heavily limits the construction aspect and the overall size of the event, they will always be criticised for greenwashing." Focus on recycling without banning plastic
The games, postponed from last year due to the pandemic, have been billed as the greenest ever, with producing zero-waste, restoring biodiversity and moving "towards zero-carbon" among the event's five sustainability pillars.
At today's opening ceremony, the torchbearer will wear a uniform made from discarded Coca-Cola bottles and hold a hydrogen-fueled torch formed of repurposed aluminium from disaster relief shelters.
Throughout the competition, athletes will sleep on recycled cardboard beds and receive medals made from old smartphones on podiums 3D-printed from household plastic waste.
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