What if the Olympics weren’t just a summer or winter affair? Climate change and geography may force a rethink of the Olympic Games calendar, World Athletics head Sebastian Coe warned this week. Coe, who is considered a strong candidate to become the next International Olympic Committee President, indicated he would be open to recalibrating the Olympic calendar to open the Games up to diverse host nations, including perhaps Saudi Arabia. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, right, is seen as a strong candidate to replace IOC ... [+] President Thomas Bach. Coe said this week that future summer Games may not necessarily be held in the summer season. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) Getty Images In an interview with The Times of London this week, Coe indicated that Saudi Arabia was “keen” to bid for the 2040 Summer Games. The IOC will be courting hosts for the 2036 and 2040 Summer Olympics during the next few years. As regions warm and snowfall becomes more scarce, many feel the Winter Olympics are in greater danger than their summer counterparts. And while possible host cities for the Winter Olympics seem ever scarcer as the world warms, concern for the outdoor events that are signatures of the Summer Games is part of the agenda now too, even as a broader array of potential host cities emerges. A Summer Olympics in Saudi Arabia is unlikely to be held during the traditional summer months, when temperatures in the kingdom can soar to over 100 degrees in the shade and peak around 130 degrees fahrenheit in the desert. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s second largest city, recorded a scorching 125.6 degrees in 2010, earning it a place on the list of the BBC’s Hottest Places on Earth. MORE FOR YOU Lady Gaga Creates Mayhem On ‘Saturday Night Live’ Northern Lights Forecast: 15 States Could See Aurora Borealis Tonight ‘Maximize The Value’—Trump’s Price Plan For Bitcoin, XRP, ETH, SOL And ADA Revealed The issue is something Coe has already confronted during his decade at the helm of World Athletics. The World Athletics Championships were held in Doha in October 2019, two months later than their usual August start date, partly due to the oppressive summer heat in Qatar. Eve then the men’s and women’s marathons had to be run in the middle of the night, when temperatures were in the mid-80s. Coe predicts that climate change will force Games organizers into greater flexibility about when events are held during the next 15 years anyway, and argues that no matter where the Games go they will face similar problems. “By 2040 we’re going to have had a readjustment of the global calendar,” he said. “And if you think about a World Athletics Championships, can we for very much longer ask athletes – even in Budapest or Paris – to be running in August? No, it doesn’t work.” Sustainability efforts show progress but Olympics fall short of total carbon neutrality Coe is not the only IOC Presidential candidate pushing to reconsider when the Games take place. Discussing his campaign platform with reporters at the IOC in January, HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, head of the Jordanian Olympic Committee, noted that “where the Games are held also necessitates a review of when they are held.” “I believe our changing climate requires a review of the sporting calendar in collaboration with the international federations, so more cities can bid for the Olympic Games,” he added. Summertime temperatures in parts of Jordan can reach above 105 degrees. Historically the Olympic calendar has been flexible. The inaugural edition of the modern Olympics in 1896 happened in April. The 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, were held in the second half of September, in early spring on the continent. The 2016 Rio Olympics were technically in the middle of the winter in Brazil. Finding new venues for the Games is in the interests of the IOC, which has been open in its desire to capture the wonder of young people in different parts of the world. Saudi Arabia has signed on to host the first Olympic ESports Games in Riyadh in 2027, a move that was applauded by Al-Hussein and other candidates. “It is clear we must collude and not collide with this genre of sport,” said the Prince, whose son Omar has served on the board of the International ESports Federation. The Olympic ESports Games are coming to Saudi Arabia in 2027, and some Olympic organizers believe ... [+] the summer Games may not be far behind. Above, Olympic Esports Week at the Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore. (Photo by Yong Teck Lim/Getty Images) Getty Images Some cities that hosted the Olympics in the 20th century would struggle to host a summer Games today, said David Lappartient, head of the International Cycling Union, who is also running for the IOC Presidency. “The Olympic movement needs to step up its game when it comes to sustainable development and tackling climate change,” Lappartient said. Part of that is due to the urban heat island effect, where an abundance of heat-absorbing surfaces like roads and buildings drive up temperatures in city centers compared to surrounding suburbs. The IOC has already taken a number of measures to counter the environmental impact of the Olympics, including pledging to cut its carbon emissions by half by 2030, bringing it in line with the Paris Climate Agreement. In 2022, the organization estimated that more than than 70 percent of its emissions stemmed from business travel. At the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, athletes walking into Maracana Stadium carried with them seeds that would be planted to create The Athletes Forest of more than 11,000 trees — one for every competitor at the Games — along Brazil’s Atlantic coast. Budgetary issues delayed the planting for more than three years following the Games. British-Swedish businessman Johan Eliasch thinks the IOC can do even more. Among Eliasch’s proposals is a “forest city initiative,” in which a patch of rainforest the same size as an Olympic host city is set aside for conservation. “The next president of the IOC should also be an expert on sustainability,” emphasized Eliasch, who in addition to being president of the International Ski Federation has chaired environmental foundations and spearheaded conservation efforts. In 2008 Eliasch published “Climate Change: Financing Global Forests,” a report in which he made the case for investing in conservation. Last summer’s Paris Olympic Games fell short of being carbon neutral, though they did meet the goal of reducing the Games’ footprint by half compared to London and Rio. Nevertheless, the French government estimated that the two-week event generated 1.59 millions tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of about 898,000 return flights between Paris and New York. Still, IOC insiders are optimistic that solutions can be found. “We have opportunities to bring the world together. This is what we want. This is our vision, this is the ideal of the Olympics movement. We can also properly address climate change,” Lappartient said. “We believe there are a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunities to make the world an even bigger sporting place.” Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Editorial StandardsForbes Accolades