Like much of the world I have been glued to and enthralled by the spectacle unfolding in South Africa that is the 2010 World Cup. Like all of the world however, I will also be feeling the effects that the Cup has imposed on the planet. According to a study conducted by the South African government and the Norwegian Embassy, this year’s event will result in the emission of over 2.7M tons of carbon into the atmosphere, or 6-times the emissions associated with the previous World Cup, held in Germany. The vast majority of those emissions, according to the study, are associated with travel. Owing to its global location and large size, airline transportation both to and from South Africa from abroad, and within the country between the 10 cities and venues hosting the games, will make up the majority of the emissions. When all is said and done, the rest will have come from other sources including the construction and powering of the stadiums, as well as energy supply for all of the various accommodations for the hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the event.
The message should be loud and clear for Brazil, host of 2014′s World Cup (and 2016 Summer Olympics!): transportation infrastructure is critical. It is not too early to start making decisions that will leave a smaller footprint on the home of the Amazon rain forest and on the planet at large.
I love sports. I am absolutely crazy about sports. However, I feel that the hosts of mega-events like the World Cup and Olympics must be accountable for their massive global and local environmental health impacts. While South Africa, FIFA, and the UN have pledged to make the 2010 World Cup carbon-neutral via offsets and other post-hoc measures, it is important that global sporting events serve as examples of responsibility and sustainability through better planning.
