New Research Finds Massive Carbon Footprint of Qatar World Cup and Their Failure to Successfully Offset Emissions as Promised

New research shows that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will have an overall carbon footprint that is more than double that of the 2018 World Cup despite promises to make the event completely carbon neutral.

Source: ABC News In-depth/YouTube

Lead researcher and writer Josh Jackman at The Eco Experts calculated that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will have an overall carbon footprint of 4,672,939 tonnes of CO2e*. This number is more than double the emissions from the previous World Cup in 2018.

Qatar promised for years that this World Cup could be carbon neutral, but these claims are problematic, at the least. According to The Eco Experts, the organizers have only managed to offset 10.4 percent of the tournament’s footprint.

Below is a complete breakdown of the emissions for the tournament according to The Eco Experts:

FIFA and Qatar:

• The seven new stadiums in Qatar will emit 2.025 million tonnes of CO2e by the end of the tournament. FIFA previously estimated that the carbon footprint of all of the stadiums would be 888,852 tonnes.
• Keeping up with the pitches will require 10,000 liters of desalinated water per day in winter and 50,000 liters in summer. The water to maintain the pitches has emitted 27,439 tonnes of CO2e in total.

The Fans:

• The organizers said that they expect 1.5 million fans to attend games at this World Cup.
• Most of the fans will fly in and out of Qatar to watch matches that they attend, which will lead to 2.2 million tonnes of CO2e.

The Teams:

• The total emissions for teams traveling to Qatar will emit a whopping 364 tonnes.
• The teams with the largest carbon footprint are the ones who are traveling the farthest, like teams from South America, who will have to travel around 8,000 miles to get there.

The World Cup’s organizers have issued a total of 544,022 offsetting credits to eco-friendly projects. Each credit represents a tonne that will be saved. However, this is only 10.4 percent of the World Cup’s carbon footprint, according to The Eco Experts.

In another recent report of the estimated event emissions, Carbon Market Watch says that the figures that FIFA and Qatar pushed out don’t paint the full picture. Carbon Market Watch works to ensure that carbon markets and other carbon mitigation tools contribute to the fight against climate change while keeping human rights in mind. The company says that Qatar vastly underestimated the emissions from building the seven stadiums. They reportedly did this by dividing the emissions from all that concrete and steel used in production by the lifespan of the facilities in years when they should have totaled them for a more accurate number.

In addition to the many problematic sustainability claims, many are boycotting the event in protest of human rights and environmental abuse in Qatar. Paris recently joined several other French cities in announcing they will not broadcast matches of the World Cup.

Related Content:

• Why Qatar‘s Sustainability Claims for the 2022 World Cup Are Being Questioned
• Paris Joins Other Cities in Boycotting World Cup to Protest Human and Environmental Abuses in Qatar
• Petition: FIFA and Its Partners Should Compensate the Workers Who Built It
• Mercedes-Benz Called Out for Greenwashing Ads and Lying About Sustainability
• How Companies Like Coca-Cola Are Greenwashing Over Plastic Packaging
• McDonald’s Net Zero Location Accused of Greenwashing

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