It is said that the FIFA World Cup in Qatar is advertised as the world's first carbon-neutral event that is of this type. Our recent research puts doubt on that claim, saying that this objective will be accomplished through innovative accounting, rather than attaining a carbon footprint of (net) the zeroes.
The host country Qatar as well as the governing body of football FIFA are pushing for 2022's World Cup, which is scheduled to be held during November. It is being the first which will be carbon-neutral during the history of the tournament.
Our research has revealed that the calculations that create the appearance to be carbon-neutral ignore certain major sources of carbon emissions. Furthermore, the current credits being bought to offset these emissions have an unsatisfactory degree of ecological integrity, meaning that they will not benefit the climate.
"It is great to see the impact on climate from FIFA World Cups being drastically diminished. However, the carbon neutrality argument which is being touted is not true," says Carbon Market Watch's Gilles Dufrasne who wrote the report. "Despite a lack of transparency, the evidence suggests that the emissions from this World Cup will be considerably higher than expected by the organisers, and the carbon credits being purchased to offset these emissions are unlikely to have a sufficiently positive impact on the climate."
Carbon football print
One of the major reasons behind this Qatar World Cup's carbon neutrality claim seems a bit flimsy is due to the misestimation of carbon emissions resulting from the construction of new stadiums to be attributable to the event. These emissions could be underestimated by an eight-fold margin.
Beyond the obvious insufficient accounting of emissions, the authenticity and quality of carbon credits which have thus to date been announced is a question. In reality, a new standard was designed specifically for the event, causing doubts about the legitimacy and reliability of the certification scheme. The current registered projects are unlikely to produce credits that effectively offset the emissions of the tournament. These credits of low quality will not help make this World Cup "carbon neutral".