Organizers of the Games had intended to compensate for some of the greenhouse-gas emissions generated by the construction and staging of the Olympics by purchasing so-called carbon offsets
Organizers of the London 2012 Olympic Games dropped a plan to cut carbon emissions during the sporting showcase, abandoning a pledge made when it defeated eight other cities to host the event. Games administrators will “no longer pursue formal offsetting procedures” to mitigate Olympics-related emissions, documents posted on the London Olympics website said. --Sarah Halls, Bloomberg, 1 September 2011