Topic:
Country: Japan
Delegate Name: Allison Bennett
Cities wishing to host an Olympic Games must submit a bid of millions of dollars to the International Olympic Committee in order to be considered for hosting. Many cities are not fit for hosting the Olympic Games and must make significant investments into their infrastructure in order to accommodate the Olympic games. Most times host cities don’t even experience sufficient increases in economic activities to balance the costs of hosting the games. Recently, bids to host the Olympic Games are rapidly declining.
Japan has hosted the 1972 and 1998 winter games, as well as the 1964 and 2020 summer games. The 2020 Olympic games were held in Tokyo without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even without spectators, hosting the Tokyo games had an effect on demand accompanying the replacement cycle for durable consumer goods. There was also a further demand for transportation, accommodation, food and security. Hosting the 2020 Tokyo games resulted in a partial economic boom, but without spectators Japan lost 1.4 trillion Yen in profits. There were also major environmental impacts of the 2020 Tokyo. The 2020 Tokyo games emitted 2.73 million tonnes of CO2, including 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 generated from the construction and renovation of venues and other infrastructure.
In 2011 the Japanese government took responsibility for the development of sports due to the enactment of the Basic Act on Sport. In this act it calls for the promotion of international exchanges and contribution through bids for and holding of international competitions such as the Olympic and Paralympic games. The policy goal pushes towards smooth execution of international competitions hosted in Japan, support for spreading information overseas, receiving of sport-related people from overseas and other efforts, as well as improving and enhancing the National Kasumigaoka Stadium and other facilities in Japan. This policy also establishes international networks through exchange of personnel in the sport world, reinforcing international collaboration in anti-doping activities, promoting the dispatching of instructors, granting sport equipment and other material exchanges in the sport world. Furthermore, economists have pointed out that the Olympic Games needs to be reformed to make them more affordable, highlighting that the bidding process encourages wasteful spending, favoring hosts who present more ambitious plans. IOC president Thomas Bach has promoted reforms known as the Olympic Agenda 2020. These reforms include reducing the cost of bidding, allowing more flexibility for host cities to use pre-existing sports facilities, encouraging bidders to develop a sustainability strategy and increasing outside auditing.
