The World Cup's Carbon Footprint

A new study from Ernst and Young documents the carbon emissions related to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The study shows that the event created a footprint of about 2,753,250 tons of CO2.

The impact was roughly eight times greater than that of the previous World Cup in Germany, due to the great distance teams and fans had to travel to reach venues at the tip of the African continent. International travel was responsible for 67.4% of the total emissions.

Intercity travel between game venues was the second largest contributor at 17.6%, while energy use for accomodations came in third at 12.4%.

Environmental Impact of World Cup Needs Improvement
Sustainable Business
July 15, 2010

Greening Efforts May Fall Short in Carbon-Heavy World Cup

Despite goals to create a carbon-sensitive and environmentally friendly World Cup, the impact of carbon emissions related to the games will be hard for South African cities to counter. Cities have taken many efforts, including tree planting, green design in new stadia, and carbon credit trading systems. But some say those efforts won't be enough.

Despite these efforts, the environmental cost of the World Cup will be heavy. The "carbon footprint" is estimated at the equivalent of 2.75-million tonnes of carbon dioxide, nine times higher than the World Cup in Germany in 2006 and more than twice as high as the Beijing Olympics.

Simple geography is the main reason: foreign visitors will travel a total of 7.1 million kilometres (4.4 million miles) to cheer their teams at the southern tip of Africa, their planes emitting tonnes of carbon.

World Cup will be more grey than green
Independent Online
March 2, 2010

SA's World Cup carbon Footprint 8 Times the Size of Germany's

The carbon footprint of South Africa's World Cup is being predicted to be eight times as large as that of the 2006 Cup in Germany. The difference is largely due to the distance teams and fans will be traveling to participate in the event.

An appeal had thus been made to FIFA and its partners to make a contribution to reducing the spectacle's carbon footprint as it did in Germany, reported Western Cape premier Helen Zille on Thursday.

At the announcement of a progress report on Cape Town's Green Goal Action Plan for the tournament she pointed out that the carbon emissions would moreover affect the entire globe.

Steps need to be taken to involve everybody who has a stake in 2010 in the Green Goal Action Plan and its objectives.

World Cup carbon concerns
News24
September 18, 2009