Qatar announced an ambitious plan to completely counterbalance all carbon emissions in the current 2022 FIFA World Cup. After the declaration of net zero emissions, the small gulf country was immediately met with skepticism and concern. The emissions caused by construction, transport and accommodation and long-term tourism lead many to call the eco-friendly plan a mere fantasy.

At less than 12,000 km² and having almost no previous stadiums, Qatar faced an issue of construction. The construction of 8 new stadiums alone would have meant massive ramifications to both the environment and Qatar’s small population. But being such a small country, much of the material used to build had to be imported overseas, meaning excess pollution in the form of transportation. Once constructed, the stadiums still needed to be maintained. Each grass field on which the games are held requires about 10 000 litres per day of water. Moreover, the energy needed to desalinate the water is not minor, and almost all of Qatar’s energy is non-renewable.

The 2022 World Cup expects to see over a million spectators and 32 participating teams. To accommodate, 80% of the country’s hotel rooms have been booked for teams and staff attending FIFA. As for fans, organizers have chartered two large cruise ships to create room. Additionally, 500 shuttle flights a day are needed to fly in people from neighbouring countries. Qatar had initially used their small size as an advantage; claiming that because everything will be so compact, there will be less need for travel. In reality, their small size means an insufficient amount of accommodation for their large audience, resulting in the need for more transportation and thus, more carbon emissions.

At the end of the day, motivation for hosting such global events like FIFA comes down to generating more attraction and tourism. 2022 will undoubtedly mark a boom in tourism for the small country. Just as we have in the past, we can expect huge environmental damage that follows such surge in tourism. (Read more about the effects of tourism and how you can be more eco-friendly while travelling.)

So how do Qatar and FIFA hope to come out of this event with no carbon emissions? This goal relies on the purchase of carbon credits and carbon offsets. Essentially, a carbon credit is the monetary equivalent of one tonne of carbon; the money is used to finance organizations that are dedicated to reducing our carbon footprint. In theory, buying enough carbon credits would compensate for the emissions put out by the event. However, instead of putting money towards pre-existing and trusted organizations, a new system was created: the Global Carbon Council (GCC). Justifiably, this raises concerns of legitimacy — why create an entirely new and unknown system rather than choose an unbiased, transparent, third-party source? On top of the immense carbon emissions FIFA will inevitably release, the plan to combat it is vague at best.

The carbon offsets Qatar and FIFA plan to use is not only questionable in their legitimacy and efficiency but only account for the short term. Long-term effects such as tourism are not covered in their plan. To be truly carbon neutral, their plan must realize that the carbon emissions created as a result of the World Cup will continue to be released long after this winter.

Works Cited
Blaeser, Jessie. “Qatar Claims the 2022 FIFA World Cup Is Carbon Neutral. It’s Not.” Salon,
Salon.com, 28 Nov. 2022,
https://www.salon.com/2022/11/27/qatar-claims-the-2022-fifa-world-cup-is-carbon-neutral-
its-not_partner/.
Hirsh, Sophie. “The Qatar World Cup Controversies, from the Environmental Impact to
Anti-LGBTQ Laws (Exclusive).” Green Matters, Green Matters, 4 Nov. 2022,
https://www.greenmatters.com/big-impact/qatar-world-cup-environmental-impact.
Ralston, William. “No, Qatar’s World Cup Can’t Be Classed as Carbon-Neutral.” WIRED UK, 14 Nov.
2022, https://www.wired.co.uk/article/qatar-2022-world-cup-emissions.

Image credits: 

Ltd, The Great Traveller. “The Environmental Impact of the World Cup.” The Great Projects,
https://www.thegreatprojects.com/blog/environmental-impact-of-the-world-cup.

By Adnen1985 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=126724677

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