BUILDING DYNAMIC SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
+44 (0) 330 053 6774
  • Home
  • About
    • Management Team
    • Suppliers And Partners
    • Join Our Team
  • Planning
    • Energy Strategy Report
    • Daylight and Sunlight Assessment
    • Rights of Light 
    • Acoustic Plant & Noise Impact Assessment
    • Ecology and Arboricultural
    • Hydrology And Flood Risk Assessment Report
    • Air Quality Assessment
    • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
    • Transport Planning and Travel Planning
    • Overheating Assessment
  • Consulting
    • Air Quality Consulting
      • Indoor Air Quality Assessment
      • Air Quality Monitoring
      • Odour Assessment
      • Air Quality Assessment
      • Bioaerosol Assessment
      • Dispersion Modelling
      • Environmental Permit Applications
    • M&E Engineering Design
      • Mechanical Design Consultancy
      • Electrical Design Consultancy
      • Architectural Acoustics
      • M&E Clerk of Works
    • Security Design & Consultancy
    • Sustainability Assessment
      • BREEAM Assessment
      • CIBSE TM65 Assessment & Consultancy
      • Code for Sustainable Homes Assessment (CSH)
      • SKA Assessment
      • LEED assessment
      • Well Building Assessment
      • Circular Economy
      • Passivhaus Design Consultancy
      • Whole Life Cycle Carbon Assessment
    • Building Simulation Modelling
      • Daylight and Sunlight Assessment
      • Glint and Glare Assessment
      • Lux Plan
      • CFD & Thermal Modelling
      • Building Information Modelling (BIM)
      • Micro-Climate Analysis
      • Hygrothermal Assessment
      • Lighting Impact Assessment
      • Overheating Assessment
    • Energy Consultancy
      • Energy Monitoring
      • Commercial Energy Audit (MEES compliant)
      • Net Zero Carbon Consultancy
    • Environmental Consultancy
      • Construction Site Waste Management Plan
      • Indoor Air Quality(IAQ) Plan And Testing
    • Civils & Infrastructure
      • SUDs Design and Drainage Strategy
      • Flood Risk Assessment
      • Below Ground Drainage Design
      • Transport and Highway Engineering Design
      • Foul Water and Utilities Assessment
    • Building Control Testing
      • Acoustic Sound Insulation Testing
      • Air Tightness Testing
      • Thermal Imaging Survey
    • Acoustic Consultancy
      • Acoustic Plant & Noise Impact Assessment
      • Architectural Acoustics
      • Acoustic Sound Insulation Testing
      • Construction Noise and Vibration
      • Noise and Vibration at Work Assessment
    • Ecology & Arboricultural
      • Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA)
      • Ecological BREEAM Survey
      • Protected Species Survey
      • Arboricultural Services
      • Landscape Services
      • Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
      • Ecology Clerk of Works
      • Urban Greening Factor (UGF)
  • Certification
    • SAP & SBEM Part L Calculation
    • Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
    • Display Energy Certificate (DEC)
    • TM44 Air Conditioning Inspection (ACI)
    • Water Part G Compliance Report
    • Legionella & Water Hygiene Risk Assessment
  • Projects
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Industrial
    • Leisure
    • Hospitality
    • Major Developments
    • Public Building & Spaces
    • Commercial and Offices
    • Retail
    • Residential
    • Mixed Use
  • Media Centre
    • Seminars
    • What policies will power post Brexit Britain
    • Videos & Downloads
    • News & Press
    • Blog
    • Awards & Accreditations
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
    • Management Team
    • Suppliers And Partners
    • Join Our Team
  • Planning
    • Energy Strategy Report
    • Daylight and Sunlight Assessment
    • Rights of Light 
    • Acoustic Plant & Noise Impact Assessment
    • Ecology and Arboricultural
    • Hydrology And Flood Risk Assessment Report
    • Air Quality Assessment
    • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
    • Transport Planning and Travel Planning
    • Overheating Assessment
  • Consulting
    • Air Quality Consulting
      • Indoor Air Quality Assessment
      • Air Quality Monitoring
      • Odour Assessment
      • Air Quality Assessment
      • Bioaerosol Assessment
      • Dispersion Modelling
      • Environmental Permit Applications
    • M&E Engineering Design
      • Mechanical Design Consultancy
      • Electrical Design Consultancy
      • Architectural Acoustics
      • M&E Clerk of Works
    • Security Design & Consultancy
    • Sustainability Assessment
      • BREEAM Assessment
      • CIBSE TM65 Assessment & Consultancy
      • Code for Sustainable Homes Assessment (CSH)
      • SKA Assessment
      • LEED assessment
      • Well Building Assessment
      • Circular Economy
      • Passivhaus Design Consultancy
      • Whole Life Cycle Carbon Assessment
    • Building Simulation Modelling
      • Daylight and Sunlight Assessment
      • Glint and Glare Assessment
      • Lux Plan
      • CFD & Thermal Modelling
      • Building Information Modelling (BIM)
      • Micro-Climate Analysis
      • Hygrothermal Assessment
      • Lighting Impact Assessment
      • Overheating Assessment
    • Energy Consultancy
      • Energy Monitoring
      • Commercial Energy Audit (MEES compliant)
      • Net Zero Carbon Consultancy
    • Environmental Consultancy
      • Construction Site Waste Management Plan
      • Indoor Air Quality(IAQ) Plan And Testing
    • Civils & Infrastructure
      • SUDs Design and Drainage Strategy
      • Flood Risk Assessment
      • Below Ground Drainage Design
      • Transport and Highway Engineering Design
      • Foul Water and Utilities Assessment
    • Building Control Testing
      • Acoustic Sound Insulation Testing
      • Air Tightness Testing
      • Thermal Imaging Survey
    • Acoustic Consultancy
      • Acoustic Plant & Noise Impact Assessment
      • Architectural Acoustics
      • Acoustic Sound Insulation Testing
      • Construction Noise and Vibration
      • Noise and Vibration at Work Assessment
    • Ecology & Arboricultural
      • Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA)
      • Ecological BREEAM Survey
      • Protected Species Survey
      • Arboricultural Services
      • Landscape Services
      • Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
      • Ecology Clerk of Works
      • Urban Greening Factor (UGF)
  • Certification
    • SAP & SBEM Part L Calculation
    • Energy Performance Certificate (EPC)
    • Display Energy Certificate (DEC)
    • TM44 Air Conditioning Inspection (ACI)
    • Water Part G Compliance Report
    • Legionella & Water Hygiene Risk Assessment
  • Projects
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Industrial
    • Leisure
    • Hospitality
    • Major Developments
    • Public Building & Spaces
    • Commercial and Offices
    • Retail
    • Residential
    • Mixed Use
  • Media Centre
    • Seminars
    • What policies will power post Brexit Britain
    • Videos & Downloads
    • News & Press
    • Blog
    • Awards & Accreditations
  • Contact

How sustainable is this World Cup?

You are here: 

Home » How sustainable is this World Cup?

Now that we can all breathe again following Monday night’s World Cup wobble for England, we thought we’d share with you a great thought-inspiring read from our friends over at Edie.net who have pulled together this excellent look at the sustainability of this great festival of football.
With the eyes of the world on Russia for the next three-and-a-half weeks, it can’t do any harm to put the event under the sustainability scrutiny and make people stop and think about the impact ‘the beautiful game’ has on our (even more) beautiful planet.
So when the going gets tough – as it inevitably will – or the half-time analysis from the pundits leaves you pondering other things, take a minute to reflect on this article and what it all means…then cast your thoughts ahead to Qatar 2022. What will our world look like then (oh, and who will be reigning World Cup holders?)

As the first sporting body to sign up to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now scheme, FIFA is targeting emissions neutrality by 2050.
Back in 2014, The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) marketed the Brazil World Cup as the “greenest” iteration of the event, citing the fact that the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasilia had more solar energy than eleven of the competing nations as evidence that the tournament was a “Copa Verde”.
Fast forward four years and the event in Russia looks to build on Brazil’s efforts. Under a cloud of concerns over discrimination, hooliganism, allegations of corruption and military conflict it is hard to view Russia as sustainable hosts. But with greenhouse gas emissions set to be 550,000 tonnes lower than that of the South American tournament, despite a higher number of fans and staff expected to take part, efforts have at least been made to align the 2018 World Cup to environmental considerations.
As the first sporting body to sign up to the UN’s Climate Neutral Now scheme, FIFA is targeting emissions neutrality by 2050. For the 2018 event, the association has additionally committed to offset the 243,000 tCO2e emissions it claims are “unavoidable” but “over which it has operational control”, and has offered free carbon offsets to ticket holders for the first time as it strives to align itself with the expectations of the Paris Agreement.
On the surface, progress looks positive, but diving deeper into the data reveals that FIFA’s emissions-neutral aspirations aren’t befitting of the “beautiful game”.
Carbon champions?
A key sustainability consideration with any major sporting event is always the vast carbon footprint, and this summer’s biggest tournament is no different.
FIFA estimates that during preparations for the tournament and throughout its duration, 2.17m tonnesof greenhouse gas emissions will be emitted – down from 2.72m tonnes recorded in Brazil. As usual, it predicts that the vast majority (98.6%) of this figure will be accounted for by indirect (Scope 3) emissions, with travel alone set to pour 1.6m tCO2e into the atmosphere.
Because international travel alone is expected to account for 57% of the event’s total emissions, FIFA is offering free carbon offsets to ticket holders for the first time, giving those who sign up a chance to win tickets to the final. For each ticket holder signing up to the initiative on its website, FIFA says it will offset 2.9 tonnes of carbon dioxide, the estimated emissions of an average ticket holder travelling to Russia from abroad.
So far, so good – but the scheme is capped at 100,000 tonnes of GHGs, or 34,500 fans, even though more than three million spectators are expected to attend the month-long event. FIFA therefore has only committed to offset up to 343,000t CO2e in total, which is 16% of the event’s total predicted emissions.
This is not the first time carbon offsets have caused friction at the World Cup. In 2014, the Brazilian Government’s launch of an offsetting scheme to reduce emissions from the event using a voluntary cancellation of carbon credits drew much excitement, but was later denounced as “hot air” by theEnvironmental Defense Fund.
Moreover, FIFA has faced criticism for using carbon reduction initiatives in its marketing while signing sponsorship deals with companies in the carbon-intensive transport and mobility sectors, including Qatar Airways, Hyundai and Kia Motors. In fact, the official partner of the 2018 World Cup is indigenous oil and gas giant Gazprom – part-owned by the Russian Government – which is the first company to have pumped oil from the Arctic shelf.
Sustainable Stadiums?
Given that just 3.6% of electricity in Russia came from renewable sources last year, it comes as little surprise that none of the 12 stadiums being used for the tournament have onsite renewable installations. In contrast, Brazil’s Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha included a 2.5MW-capacity solar array, while stadiums such as the Amsterdam ArenA are now incorporating battery storage to compliment onsite renewables.
However, all of the stadiums in Russia are expected to be certified as “International Bespoke standard” by BREEAM by the time the event finishes, with five of the stadiums having gained interim certification as of January. The event will be the first where FIFA has pledged to ensure all venues comply with an internationally recognised green building standard, with built-in energy efficiency measures including metal-halide lamps, LED lighting with either darkness or motion detectors and rainwater harvesting systems at the stadiums in Saransk, Kaliningrad and Rostov-on-Don.
Moreover, each facility has been designed to minimise the need for artificial lighting by allowing as much natural daylight in as possible, with electric-free hollow tubular skylights installed in some of the stadiums’ catering facilities.
However, Russian activists are now claiming that some of these “green” stadiums have been built at the expense of vulnerable ecosystems. The Kaliningrad Stadium, for example, will feature matches from both England and Spain, but has supposedly been constructed on top of one of the area’s last wetlands.
Constructing all 12 stadiums as well as temporary facilities for “Fan Fests” is set to account for 91,792 tCO2e, FIFA claims, adding that regional materials manufactured in proximity to the construction sites have been used “wherever possible” to cut emissions – but FIFA’s “more sustainable stadiums” reportalso looks past the construction and initial use of the facilities and into their futures.
It emphasises the importance of ensuring the venues do not become ‘white elephant’ constructions, after the development of a number of stadiums and structures for previous sporting events – such as the 2014 Brazil World Cup – that now sit unused.
“The legacy use of stadiums, infrastructure that has no adverse impacts on biodiversity, increased environmental awareness and more people partaking in physical activity will greatly vindicate all sustainability efforts,” the report states.
“Appropriate and effective legacy management will be a central task after the event.”
However, the document stops short of explaining how such management will be organised, or which key performance indicators FIFA will set to measure whether it has met its long-term sustainability aims regarding the built environment.
Wasted chance?
As the wider sporting world moves to crack down on waste with moves such as the Premier League pledging to remove all single-use plastics from its operations and events by 2020, FIFA’s waste strategyfor the World Cup is noticeably vague.
Lacking statistics and numerical targets, it sets an aim of “ensuring efficient and sustainable World Cup-related waste management”, with waste-reduction measures including banning non-recyclable tableware, cutlery, packaging and plastic bags from stadiums, offering hand dryers instead of paper towels in event toilets and using digital rather than paper-based communications “wherever possible”.
And while FIFA has committed to drive behaviour change among fans and stadium staff by offering a waste training programme to all employees and providing spectators with information on what type of waste can be recycled, bans on single-use items or the use of recycled materials is noticeably absent from the strategy.
In Brazil, the tournament saw 39% more waste recycled than FIFA’s target of 320 tonnes after separate bins for recycling and general waste were used for the first time– but the event nonetheless created 776 tonnes of recyclable and 1,595 tonnes non-recyclable of waste, with no less expected to be produced in Russia this summer.
Jules Rimet still gleaming?
The world of sports is evolving, the Premier League and the England cricket team have both joined the fight against plastics, while stadiums and kit manufacturers have inked new supply deals to accelerate the shift to the low-carbon, resource-efficient transition.
It appears then, that FIFA has missed an opportunity to use the 2018 World Cup as global platform to champion sustainability and looking ahead, environmentalism will continue to be left on the subs bench in favour of political and economic opportunities.
The Qatar World Cup, scheduled for 2022, has been accused of transforming workers into “slaves” andstadiums into “mausoleums”. Elsewhere, Morocco’s bid to host the 2026 World Cup – featuring six 46,000-seater stadiums that meet BREEAM and HQE certification, set to generate up to 224MWh of renewable electricity annually and be part-dismantled to promote reuse – has been cast aside in favour of a joint bid between Canada, Mexico and the one nation that has walked away from the emblematic Paris Agreement – the US.
FIFA isn’t exactly decorated as an ethically-run organisation, but in an attempt to put spectres of corruption and scandal to rest the footballing body is perhaps missing a trick by not weaving sustainability into every aspect of its decision-making process.
Sarah George & Matt Mace

Share this:

  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Related

Categories
Archives

Our Newsletter

Watch Our Video

Previous Clean Air Day: Let’s all play our part to reduce pollution Next Air pollution – tackling the problem together

Company No: 06408056
VAT No: 980016044
Sitemap
Privacy

Sign up for Quarterly Newsletter

Please click here to recieve our quarterly newsletters

© Syntegra Consulting Ltd.

syntegra twitter
syntegra linked-in
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPTREJECTRead More
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.