Milano-Cortina 2026: Italy’s sustainability promise collides with construction and snowmaking

When Italy won the right to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympics it sold a vision of low-impact sport set inside protected mountain landscapes; the reality on the ground has exposed a widening gap between promise and practice. Across Cortina d’Ampezzo and nearby valleys, nearly a hundred Olympic-related projects have been greenlit, bringing heavy machinery, more than twenty visible cranes and extensive site works into areas prized for their natural character. A high-profile sliding track and other venues have required the removal of ancient larch stands—campaigners estimate roughly five hundred mature trees were cut to clear routes—while new roads, parking areas and structural renovations are reshaping previously rural terrain. To keep pistes usable in a warming climate, organizers plan to rely on massive artificial snowmaking that watchdogs say will demand in the order of 84.8 million cubic feet of water, a volume often described in public conversation as the equivalent of hundreds of standard Olympic pools. Local activists have documented on-site pumping infrastructure and cite official figures that put withdrawal at about 25 gallons per second at some intake points, raising questions about seasonal stress on mountain streams and downstream ecosystems. Critics also note that more than sixty percent of approved projects lack publicly available full environmental impact assessments, a procedural omission that undermines confidence in both mitigation measures and legacy planning. Political choices have shaped the outcome: proposals to stage certain sliding events abroad were rejected in favor of domestic construction after national ministers framed the competitions as an assertion of sovereignty. That posture has hardened positions and complicated negotiations between residents, conservation groups and the government company in charge of Olympic works. Tourism pressures—already amplified by social-media-driven visitation—are expected to intensify, with some natural attractions drawing thousands in peak days and locals warning that infrastructure additions will further urbanize valleys. Economists and municipal officials argue that roads and facilities will benefit communities after the Games, but opponents counter that many interventions primarily service a short-term event profile and a luxury-oriented visitor economy. Without transparent, independent ecological studies and clear operational limits on water and land use, the region risks a negative material legacy: altered habitats, constrained water availability during low-flow periods and a transformed cultural landscape. The coming weeks of competition will make the trade-offs visible to an international audience, but the more consequential contest will be the legal, political and scientific scrutiny that follows as communities seek to define what kind of Alpine future they want.