The IOC Executive Board confirmed its intention to align with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change earlier this week.

The organisation said it had set a target to reduce its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent.

An interim target of a 30 per cent reduction has been set for 2024, with the IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission tasked with developing action plans to achieve both targets.

The IOC says it will offset more than 100 per cent of its remaining carbon emissions, which will mainly be achieved through the Olympic Forest project.

The Olympic Forest project was confirmed last March by the IOC.

The project is part of the Great Green Wall, an existing United Nations-backed initiative to combat desertification in Africa’s Sahel region.

The IOC says this will make the organisation climate positive by 2024, meaning that it will be removing more carbon from the atmosphere than it emits.

"Sport depends on a healthy planet," said Thomas Bach, IOC President.

"As the leader of the Olympic Movement, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to protect our climate.

"This ambitious target puts the IOC in line with the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius, and helps to advance action on climate change."

The IOC says it is already a carbon-neutral organisation, having offset its 2017-2020 emissions through its carbon partnership with its Worldwide Olympic Partner Dow.

In the four-year period from 2016 to 2019, the IOC’s average carbon footprint was about 53,000 tonnes of CO2e per year.

The IOC added that from 2030 all Organising Committees for the Olympic Games are obliged to minimise and compensate its direct and indirect carbon emissions, as well as implement lasting zero-carbon solutions for the Olympic Games and beyond.

Tokyo 2020 is expected to achieve carbon neutrality through a range of measures, including renewable energy and zero-emission vehicles provided by Olympic Partner Toyota.

Beijing 2022 plans to power all its venues with renewable energy, while Paris 2024 has tried to make sustainability the centre-point of its Games.

Olympic Games have received criticism in recent years for their environmental impact.

Tokyo 2020 faced opposition for their use of timber, with organisers criticised in 2019 over allegations they were still using timber associated with rainforest destruction and human rights abuses.

The IOC later published two sustainability guides for organisers, aimed at ensuring the Olympic Movement sources goods and services in a way which results in positive social, environmental, ethical and economic outcomes.

Pyeongchang 2018 also faced significant criticism for the destruction of a forest, which made way for Jeongseon Alpine Centre to be constructed.

The IOC has said upcoming Olympic Games will see a reduction in new venues.

Paris 2024 is expected to use 95 per cent pre-existing or temporary venues with the Games carbon footprint expected to be around 1.5 million tonnes of CO2e.

This will reportedly be half the carbon footprint of previous Olympic Summer Games, with the new permanent venues expected to be low carbon.

Los Angeles 2028 will not require a single new permanent venue to be built, according to organisers.