Greenpeace calls out oil and gas giant Eni’s Winter Olympics sponsorship

New Greenpeace video targets Winter Olympics sponsor Eni – WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

One year of Eni’s emissions could melt enough glacier ice to fill 2.5 million Olympic swimming pools.

February 3, 2026 – London / Milan. As the Winter Olympics in Italy begin, Greenpeace is calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to drop oil and gas sponsorship from the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and commit to ending fossil fuel sponsorship across all Olympic Games.

A hard-hitting satirical video released today by Greenpeace Italy lays bare the real impact of oil and gas on winter sports, including the Olympics; it warns of the risk of losing them forever without a rapid transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. 

The Greenpeace video highlights the sponsorship of the Games by Italian oil and gas giant Eni. Greenpeace has calculated that one year of Eni’s emissions could melt enough glacier ice to fill 2.5 million Olympic swimming pools [1]. Created by Studio Birthplace, the video opens with racing speed skaters, skiers and bobsledders, emblazoned with Eni logos. Suddenly a trickle of oil turns into a tsunami, sweeping the athletes off their feet, causing them to slip and crash as a sea of oil engulfs them.

Philip Evans, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace UK said:
“There is a gross contradiction in the Olympic values of respect for people and the environment and its willingness to continue accepting funding from the oil and gas industry that is driving the floods, heatwaves and fires that are wreaking havoc on our planet. Big Oil companies should be paying for the damages they are causing to communities around the world, not being paid to clean up their image.

 “The IOC should end their association with sportswashing corporate polluters. They are taking money from the very people who are stealing our winters and signing the death sentence of future winter olympics.”

According to a rigorous 2024 scientific study funded by the IOC [1], in the next fifty years snow and conditions for winter sports will be at risk, with more than half of the potential host cities for future Winter Games considered to be “climate-unreliable” by the 2080s.

In an open letter published today [2], Greenpeace is calling for the IOC to end fossil fuel sponsorship across the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games and all Olympic Games. On February 7th, Greenpeace Italy will also join a national march organised by civil society organisations in Milan to protest the environmental, economic, and social impacts of the Games.

Ends

Contact: Greenpeace UK Press Office – Press UK or 020 7865 8255
Gaia Maione, Press Officer, Greenpeace Italy Gaia Maione or +39 340 571 80193

Notes:
[1] The climate crisis and the future of the Winter Olympics (link will be live when embargo lifts)

[2] Copy of the open letter 
Eni is currently in a legal battle with Greenpeace Italy. In 2023, Greenpeace Netherlands released a study that applied the Mortality Cost of Carbon method, which projected that Eni’s self reported emissions for 2022 alone could cause 27,000 temperature-related excess deaths by the end of the century. Instead of changing their business, Eni attempted to silence these legitimate criticisms by suing Greenpeace Italy.