Qatar has announced that the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will kick off on Nov. 20, will be carbon neutral, according to Wired. However impressive it may be, there remains to be skepticism due to the heavy reliance of the country on fossil fuels and the lack of suitable facilities before the event.  

Despite this, the organizers of the game insist that the tournament will be carbon-neutral. 

Qatar's Sustainability Strategy

Qatar's strategy relies on minimizing its emissions as best it can, which has a lot of limitations because of the need to build stadiums from scratch and operate them with crowds in the desert. Then, they will compensate for any remaining emissions using carbon credits. 

A report released earlier this year by the nonprofit Carbon Market Watch (CMW) stated doubts over the claim, and the organizers' intentions to make the World Cup carbon-neutral may be subject to debate. 

Due to the small size of Qatar, they will need to invest a lot of money and time in new stadiums and accommodations. In addition, this also means that they are reliant on imports, which can make construction more taxing to the environment. In fact, grass seeds for playing surfaces have been imported from abroad. 

In addition, due to the country's climate, maintaining a soccer field once those seeds have been sown will require 10,000 liters of water per day. And it's apparent that water doesn't come easily in the desert. 

Also, FIFA's official greenhouse gas emissions report states that the tournament will produce approximately 3.6 million tons of carbon dioxide, which is 1.5 million tons more than the previous edition in 2018 that took place in Russia. 

Also read: Google Adds FIFA World Cup Special Search Engine Features

How Qatar's Handling It

Qatar has built eight open-air stadiums, of which seven have been built from scratch, while the other has been refurbished. Most of them were made using reused, and recycled materials and have been certified for their sustainable design. 

In fact, Stadium 974 uses shipping containers as building blocks that allow it to be fully deconstructed and reassembled in another location after the tournament. 

Furthermore, Stadium 974 uses a novel cooling system to handle the country's climate. It works by forming a layer of cold air inside each stadium and recycles that instead of taking in hot air from outside and cooling it. There are grilles that get this air in, filter it, and funnel it past pipes filled with chilled water to cool it. Then, it targets players via pitch-side nozzles and spectators through diffusers under the seats. 

The entire system is powered by a solar farm and is said to use 40 percent less energy compared to other cooling systems on the market today. 

Related article: Qatar to Deploy Biometric Surveillance to Monitor Soccer Fans During FIFA World Cup 2022: Is it Accurate?

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Written by April Fowell