November 20th is the date of one of the most important sports events, allowing countries “to put their best foot forward” in football. Qatar, the 2022 FWC host, has boasted of being “the first carbon-neutral sports event in history,” a claim that has many climate change observers and specialists reeling. A total of 32 international teams will play for four weeks, and as many as 1.5 million fans are expected to attend.

The non-profit group Carbon Market Watch (CMW) released a study on May 31st that was updated on October 31st. It evaluates the tournament’s credibility regarding carbon neutrality, not how well the people in charge have reduced emissions.

“Organizers are underestimating the event’s carbon footprint and putting too much faith in offsets that cannot be guaranteed to reduce emissions elsewhere.” The group believes those planning the event are deceiving the players, fans, and anyone else who thinks it will reach net zero.

According to a Bloomberg article of November 10th, “Their calculations, prepared by the Swiss carbon management firm South Pole, set the total emissions for the World Cup at 3.6 million metric tons. But CMW and the Paris-based carbon-management startup Greenly say this is an undercount”.

Bloomberg reports that in Greenly’s opinion, the event’s net emissions totaled 6 million tons, a figure equivalent to a year’s worth of emissions from 750,000 US houses. Alexis Normand, CEO and Co-Founder of Greenly, deems the 2022 World Cup the “most emissive ever.”

What do they say?

Qatar has, at least in writing and for all concerned, tried to show it’s trying to do things right. The country listed the ten steps it will take to reduce its carbon footprint on its Visit Qatar webpage:

1. It will be a compact world cup.

They announced it would be the most compact in modern history, meaning all stadiums are close together, eliminating long-distance travel.

“It doesn’t make much sense to advertise an event as “green” based on the proximity of stadiums and then invite fans to find accommodation far from that city and commute by plane,” said Giles Dufrasne, policy officer at Carbon Market Watch and the report’s lead author. “It would be another example of how the World Cup organizers are not matching all their words with actions.” (See №2).

2. There will be no internal flights.

Yes. But: Aljazeera News reported that a shuttle service with 168 flights a day has been set up by Gulf airline companies, allowing fans to travel from five regional cities to watch a match without staying overnight in Qatar. The organizers have revealed that travel accounts for 51.7% of emissions, and the Bloomberg article indicates that in Greenly’s estimations, this service will generate more than 80,000 tons of CO2.

3. They have been certified by the Global Assessment System.

This rates buildings and infrastructure for their sustainability impacts.

4. The Ras Abu Aboud Stadium will be the only fully dismountable WC stadium.

Built with more durable materials that allow for the stadium’s disassembly and reassembling several times, the GHG footprint connected with the building of stadium 974 (aka Ras Abu Aboud) is 60% greater than that of permanent structures.

Having said this, CMW considers this effort offers some benefits.

● Structures from previous competitions can be reused and allow underdeveloped countries to host an event of this caliber, with initial construction costs shared between several future hosts — fewer stadiums to build.

● Second, it allows locating stadiums in more central places, more accessible to fans, reducing traffic.

It has to be said that a temporary construction’s ultimate carbon footprint is less than that of a permanent facility, depending on how many times and how far it is moved and rebuilt.

CMW could not identify any plans suggesting where or if the organizers planned to relocate the facility.

5. Recycling measures/protocols to manage waste.

6. Sustainable Sourcing.

The organizers have established strict environmental criteria for suppliers.

7. The Doha Metro system is electric, and its stations operate “under green building certification.

8. FWWC Qatar 2022 has delivered “sustainable hospitality solutions” at the tournament’s core.

9. Tree Planting.

There is a campaign to “green the country” by planting native trees, leaving a legacy for future generations. The trees will help absorb “thousands of tons of carbon per year”

The CMW research disputes this claim because carbon storage needs to last at least 200 or 300 years to make any impact. Besides, it points out that carbon storage is unlikely to be permanent in these artificial and fragile green spaces.

The Willey Online Library report of September last year on this topic is more optimistic, presenting a novel approach to offset carbon emissions by utilizing the carbon sequestration potential of trees planted in a nursery project in Qatar:

“The Nursery spans an area of 880,000 m2, including 425,000 m2 of turf and the remaining 455,000 m2 of trees. The Nursery features 60 different types of trees and shrubs from Qatar and worldwide — a total of 679,000 shrubs and 16,000 trees, most of which are to be replanted across the stadium sites and other areas of the country. Many of the plants are endemic to the region and drought tolerant, which can minimize the water requirements for their maintenance”.

In addition to helping the World Cup become carbon neutral, widespread tree planting can significantly lower carbon emissions, which will continue to decline over the trees’ average 135-year lifespan.

It can also start the emergence of green open spaces, enhancing city social life and preserving the legacy of sporting events like the World Cup and the Olympic Games after they have ended.

10. The 800MW Al Kharsa’ah solar power plant.

Will not only limit carbon emissions, but will curb the country’s reliance on gas.

Organizers have established a new carbon credit standard -The Global Carbon Council — CMW’s investigation states that while it is supposed to deliver at least 1.8 million credits to offset World Cup emissions, just days away from the tournament, has only two registered projects, and issued just over 130,000 credits.

The Bloomberg article reports from CMW that these projects could exist without the funding:

“These are cost-competitive. They sell electricity. They make money from that, says Dufrasne, so buying credits from these projects doesn’t impact emissions. You’re handing out money to someone who was going to do that project”.

World sport events are crucial for the spectacle and joy they bring to millions. Their magnitude, however, is no longer warranted in a planet fighting to survive.

Food for thought.

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