26 July 2012: UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner visited the site of the London 2012 Olympics, on 26 July 2012, as part of final preparations for the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Steiner praised London’s cleanup of a historical industrial site, the restoration of flows and habitat on the River Lea, the greening of supply chains and the use of temporary structures to reduce emissions. He said these successes would inspire the organizers of the Rio 2016 games.

According to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) in its April 2012 report on pre-Games sustainability, key achievements include: the construction of the Olympic park on once-contaminated industrial land, which now provides both new wildlife habitats and flood alleviation; the most-sustainable and lightest Olympic and Paralympic stadium in history, with old gas pipes used in much of its construction; and being the first Olympic and Paralympic Games to commit to a target of Zero Waste to landfill. [UNEP Press Release] [UN Press Release]