Beijing Olympics wins eco gold, U.N says

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The 2008 Beijing Olympics set records for large eco-friendly spectator sporting events and raised the bar for environmental standards, a U.N. agency said.

The Games not only met -- and exceeded -- many of its pledges to be environmentally friendly from reducing air pollution to making large investments in public transportation and renewable energies, the U.N. Environmental Program said Wednesday in a release.

The agency's report, "The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Final Environmental Assessment," concluded that, while more could have been done to work with non-profit organizations to reduce the Olympic and Paralympic Games' carbon footprint, the Games marked a step forward for environmentally conscious, large-scale sporting events.

"The public attention of the world focused on the Beijing Games and whether the authorities could pull off a landmark event on many fronts including the environment," said Achim Steiner, the U.N. organization's executive director. "They have fulfilled the promise of a Green Games in many areas including public transport, waste treatment and green Olympic venues."

Air quality was the dominant environmental issue for Olympic organizers and municipal authorities had to manage, the United Nations said.

The U.N. agency's report said "significant efforts before and during the Games were focused on improving Beijing's air quality" and air quality improved significantly as a result of the efforts.