Green Goals at the World Cup - From Carbon Neutrality to Water Conservation
Document Actions
The current World Soccer Cup is proving to be the largest application of the principles of carbon neutrality. Green Goal is an innovative program set up by the German Organizing Committee and an alliance of advocates including the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) and a number of governmental organizations and private sector companies such as Deutsche Telekom AG and transport company Deutsche Bahn AG. The aims of Green Goal are reducing the environmental impact of this major sporting event, including the offset of the 100,000 tones of carbon dioxide stemming from the transportation, construction and maintenance of the stadiums to make this a climate neutral event! Read about this and other environmental sustainability efforts at the World Cup...
The environmental criteria set targets in four key sectors: refuse,
transportation,
energy
and water
. A number of global and small-scale local initiatives are actually
carried out to minimize the immediate environmental effects a large-scale event
like this brings about. The 
program also aims at setting up
environmentally beneficial structures for the long-term. This initiative,
announced in 2005, has been previously featured as a major step towards
sustainability by ifPeople (Read more)
Transportation
According to the
Green Goal Team forecasts, some 80% of the greenhouse gas emissions of the 2006
FIFA World Cup will derive from traffic. This is why a number of measures are
currently being implemented to promote the use of public transportation and
environmentally friendly means of transport among the locals. The Kombi ticket
scheme is a major part of this sound transport plan: FIFA world cup tickets are valid as fare tickets for the
public transit system. Besides, the "Berlin Steigt Um" campaign
("Berlin changes mode of transport") promotes the use of the bicycle
to reach the venues.
Energy
The stadiums that hold the events make use of various energy management systems to maximize efficiency and utilize renewable sources of energy that meet ecological criteria. Solar power plays a key role, especially in Kaiserslautern, Dortmund and Nuremberg, where large solar facilities supply clean energy to meet the high demands of the event. Also, Munich and Nuremberg stadiums are both EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) certified for environmentally conscious design and management.
Water
The stadiums make use of rainwater for irrigation and have systems to minimize the consumption of this scarce resource. The Berlin stadium for instance has an innovative irrigation system that harvests the rainwater and uses it for watering the pitch and green areas.
Refuse
The Cup demonstrates Germany's reputation as a leader in the field of waste management. One of the waste reduction measures includes the promotion of a reusable recipient for drinks called the Cup of the Cup.
Awareness-raising
Several measures have been taken towards raising public awareness inside and outside the stadiums. A short film with the slogan World Champion for the Environment: We are working on it is shown before every match and the Green Goal brochure is being distributed in Germany and around the world. This 2006 Soccer Cup concern for the environmental can also be seen as contributing to raising global awareness of the environmental consequences of such massive events and some plans are being taken to include environmental issues to the agenda of the next 2010 World Cup in South Africa
Falling short?
The FIFA World Cup 2006 follows other major sporting events that have applied environmental criteria such as the Olympic Games in Sydney and the more recent winter's Olympic games in Italy. Although the Green Goal's objective is to compensate for all of the pollution and waste arising from the football championship, some people are doubtful of the practical realization of such a goal. Rudiger Rosenthal, from BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland), an environmental protection organization, said in an interview: "To think that the destructive environmental effects of a global tournament can be 100-percent compensated is an illusion". Also, criticism is directed towards the claim of achieving climate neutrality by compensating 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Klaus Töpfer, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, and a partner in Berlin's Green Goal initiative, told the Financial Times that saying the World Cup is the first climate neutral cup is misleading since the environmental impact of international flights by football teams, officials and fans, which is directly linked to the event, has not been taken into account.
Despite criticism and possible shortcomings, the Green Goal project is a major step towards the worldwide implementation of environmental standards and is likely to encourage the adoption of green responsible criteria in big events around the world.
Read more:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33525
http://greengoal.fifaworldcup.yahoo.net/en/das_ist_greengoal/
