With the support of the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation, Correspondent Carolina Kyllmann travelled to Los Angeles during the month of May to find out how the city is preparing for its upcoming mega event era, starting with FIFA World Cup matches in the summer of 2026, the 2027 Super Bowl, and finalising with the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The focus of her reporting was on the climate and energy implications of these mega events, on a city that is still rebuilding from painful wildfires. The aim was to learn whether the preparations could become an inflection point for climate mitigation and adaptation, both for the Olympics and for the host city. The lessons could then be used for future editions of the most popular multi-sport event in the world, as well as cities bidding to host it, including Berlin in the near future.
She was able to interview over 30 experts and visit numerous sites in person. As part of the project, she talked to university researchers at UCLA and USC, attended a City Hall meeting of the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Olympic Games, learnt about LA’s Olympic legacy at the LA84 foundation, and interviewed athletes engaged with advancing sustainability in sport. She examined how LA readied to become an official FIFA Fan Fest zone and gained an understanding of where LA is at with its preparations, how much still needs to change before 2028, and what climate advances are likely to remain after all closing ceremonies.
So far, the project has resulted in a number of journalistic works, including
- podcast episode in collaboration with the European media company FORESIGHT Climate and Energy on her early findings and impressions from Los Angeles. The episode is available on their platform and on Spotify.
- a webinar as part of the London Climate Action Week together with London-based climate journalist Joe Lo (Climate Home News) and Los Angeles-based urban resilience journalist Alissa Walker (Torched) to give an international audience an overview of the intersection of climate and sport, focused on LA’s example.
- an article on Clean Energy Wire on the role of the World Cup for climate preparations in the city, a version of which was published in German by AufRuhr Magazin and in Spanish by Climática. The article was also republished by US climate medium Grist.
For more information on the project, check the dossier.
