World Cup Football Teams Offset CO2 Emissions

More than 50 per cent of the footballs teams taking part in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are involved in a carbon-offset scheme to mitigate the impact of the event on the environment. That’s according to Swiss carbon management organisation South Pole, which issued a press release on the subject on 11 June – the South African World Cup’s opening day.

Together, the South African environment ministry and the Environment Programme run by the United Nations have activated a CO2 emissions offset project.

Overall, each team participating in the World Cup is expected to produce 6,000 tonnes of CO2, taking into account coaches and other members of the squads besides the main players.

World Cup CO2 emissions

According to a pre-event assessment carried out through a partnership involving South Africa and Norway, 2010 World Cup CO2 emissions will total 2.7 million tons: an eight-fold increase on the carbon footprint of the previous World Cup held in Germany four years ago.

Reasons for this increase include South Africa’s geographical position – football fans and football players alike have had to make much longer journeys to get there –and the fact that South Africa remains largely reliant on fossil fuels as a source of energy.

World Cup Carbon Offsets

Carbon offsetting is a process through which individuals and firms can reduce their individual carbon footprints through investing in carbon reduction projects elsewhere in the world and South Africa and the UN’s World Cup carbon offsets project is allied to a number of schemes in this mould.

There are five offset schemes total, among them a waste-management venture taking place close to Cape Town, which focuses on the separate treatment of normal waste and organic waste.

As far as a number of the World Cup 2010 teams are concerned, the carbon offset cost is being met by sports goods manufacturer Puma, the sponsor of them. These teams include some of the biggest names in international football like Brazil, England, Italy, Holland and South Africa itself.

“Whilst we welcome the world, South Africa's hosting of the World Cup must leave a legacy for the people of South Africa”,  South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Buyelwa Sonjica, commented on the eve of the opening match.

“As the environment sector, we want part of the legacy to be a green legacy.”

See also:

World Cup Carbon Emissions Forecast to Hit 2.75m Tonnes

Winter Olympics in Carbon Neutral Pledge