Qatar World Cup: Fifa’s carbon neutrality claim ‘misleading and incredibly dangerous’

The open letter argues that Fifa’s sustainability strategy has flawed carbon calculations, questionable offsetting practices and shifts the responsibility on to fans rather than shouldering it itself.

Fifa says that – of the 3.6 million tonnes of equivalent carbon produced for the Qatar World Cup, 51.7% of it is caused by travel, including fans’ flights – for which it has pledged to offset every ticketholder’s flight emissions, along with several other initiatives such as electric mobility for public transport around the tournament.

A Fifa statement read: “Fifa is fully aware that climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time and believes it requires each of us to take immediate and sustainable climate action.

“For the very first time, Fifa and the host country Qatar have pledged to deliver a fully carbon neutral World Cup. A comprehensive set of initiatives have been implemented to mitigate the tournament-related emissions, including energy-efficient stadiums and green-building certification of their design, construction and operations, low-emission transportation, and sustainable waste management practices.

“All remaining emissions will be offset through investing in internationally recognised and certified carbon credits. This is done on a voluntary basis, leading the way in the sports industry. More can be done and will be done, as Fifa has pledged through the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework and its own Climate Strategy to reach net-zero emissions by 2040.”