Dylan Bettencourt
As migrant workers face possible death and slave labour in the build up to the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, the governing body has been accused of failing to meet its environmental promises.
From reports of 6,500 migrant workers dying during the construction of the World Cup stadiums to allegations of slave labour amongst security personnel, another factor has cast a shadow over the controversial show stopping event.
Organisers of the event said it would be the first “carbon neutral” World Cup, meaning that there would be limited emissions let off during the tournament – and any that were would be cancelled out by other measures.
But the Carbon Market Watch (CMW), a not-for-profit organisation that works with the European Union, looked into the plans and said projected emissions have been underreported, with the footprint created from building seven new stadiums raising concern.
“It would be great to see the climate impact of Fifa World Cups being drastically reduced but the carbon neutrality claim that is being made is simply not credible,” said Gilles Dufrasne of CMW, author of 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.”
The CMW report suggests that the emissions let off during the construction of the stadiums could be eight times higher than Fifa claims.
Concerns were also raised amongst the organisation of how much these stadiums would be used in the future.
“Future extensive use of so many stadiums in such a small geographical space is uncertain, especially when considered against the fact that Doha had only one major stadium before it was awarded the World Cup,” CMW said in the report.
Fifa disputed the report and stands by their claim of a “carbon neutral” event set for November.
“The organisers have pledged to measure, mitigate and offset all Fifa World Cup 2022 greenhouse gas emissions, while advancing low-carbon solutions in Qatar and the region,” a Fifa spokesperson said.
“Thus, at no point has Fifa misled its stakeholders, as is claimed by the report.”
Image source: @Bloomberg
