Qatar’s promise of ‘carbon-neutral’ World Cup raises doubts
Qatar has been on a ferocious construction spree that has few recent parallels in the long run-up to hosting the 2022 men's World Cup soccer tournament
WASHINGTON (AP) — In the 12-year run-up to hosting the 2022 men's World Cup soccer tournament, Qatar has been on a ferocious construction spree with few recent parallels.
It built seven of its eight World Cup stadiums, a new metro system, highways, high-rises and Lusail, a futuristic city that ten years ago was mostly dust and sand.
For years, Qatar promised something else to distinguish this World Cup from the rest: It would be ‘carbon-neutral,' or have a negligible overall impact on the climate. And for almost as long, there have been skeptics — with outside experts saying Qatar and FIFA's plan rests on convenient accounting and projects that won't counteract the event's carbon footprint as they advertise.
"It's not very helpful for this type of event to market itself as carbon-neutral,” said Gilles Dufrasne, a researcher at the Brussels-based non-governmental organization Carbon Market Watch, which authored a report questioning Qatar's sustainability plan. “It gives the impression that we can build massive state-of-the-art stadiums ... and fly people from all over the world to watch football matches and that’s somehow compatible with reaching climate targets."
