Doha, November 18 (QNA) – As part of its strategy to host the first carbon-neutral edition of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatar is establishing global standards in the field of environmental conservation, which will serve as a model in major international tournaments, in addition to building a sustainable legacy that will benefit future generations.
A carbon-neutral tournament means achieving a balance in the carbon emissions resulting from vehicles exhausts, energy-generating processes and ensuring that the percentage of carbon in the air does not increase in order to avoid the occurrence or exacerbation of many environmental problems such as global warming and climate change that may cause countless environmental disasters.
In its strategy to organize the first carbon-neutral edition, Qatar relies on the level of sustainability for stadiums according to different categories, including design, construction, energy and water use, as well as installing stations to measure air quality, gas emissions and dust in all World Cup stadiums.
The strategy included organizing a mechanism for sorting waste during the construction phase of the stadiums, to reduce the carbon footprint, which resulted in the recycling of about 80% of the waste resulting from the construction of the World Cup stadiums, as well as water conservation, waste and carbon emissions management, use of renewable energy whenever possible, environmental protection, and urban connectivity.
On its way to host the largest sporting event in the history of the Middle East and the Arab world, Qatar worked on making its mark in the field of renewable energy and focusing on any commitment or action in the field of reducing carbon emissions, on scientific basis and accurate research results in all infrastructure projects related to the tournament, in addition to the eight stadium projects designated to host the World Cup competitions.
While preparing for the race to organize the largest sporting event in the world, Qatar has succeeded in implementing many effective programs and plans to reduce carbon emissions that are harmful to health and the climate, and it received unparalleled local and international approval and support.
The FIFA Arab Cup hosted by Doha at the end of 2021, represented an ideal opportunity to improve preparations for hosting the World Cup, as the main features emerged in the field of sustainability and environmental protection, and work continued to build on and enhance them so that the World Cup would leave a sustainable legacy for future generations.
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, the body responsible for delivering the infrastructure projects necessary for Qatar to host the World Cup, stresses that sustainability has been, from the beginning, a major focus of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as it cooperated in January 2020, with the International Football Association (FIFA) to develop the Charter for Sustainable Resources for the World Cup, which sets out the minimum standards that suppliers and tournament sponsors must adhere to, in addition to adhering to strict environmental standards.
The Supreme Committee has pledged on many occasions to host a carbon-neutral edition of the World Cup, by applying best construction practices that will positively affect the climate legacy of Qatar and the region, design and build stadiums, training sites, and transportation infrastructure in accordance with sustainable building standards.
The eight FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums have received praise for their sustainable designs, how they are built, and their daily management. It also obtained the certificates of the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) from the Gulf Organization for Research and Development (GORD) of 5 stars and at least 4 stars for design, construction and facility management, in addition to golden certificates for its operations.
The sustainability strategy for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will change the way tournaments and various major sporting events are organized in the future. It will establish a sustainable legacy that contributes to the promotion of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Qatar National Vision 2030.
In this regard, Eng. Abdulrahman Al Muftah, Sustainability and Environment Specialist at the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) noted that the State of Qatar seeks to reach what is known as “carbon neutrality” during hosting the World Cup by achieving four main goals, which are raising the level of awareness of individuals and key partners and involving them in efforts to achieve this goal, knowing the carbon stock resulting from the activities related to the tournament, identifying the most important sources of carbon emissions and international standards to reduce these emissions, and conducting a carbon budget by investing in green and environmentally friendly projects.
Al Muftah explained that the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will witness a large turnout of fans to use public transportation, especially the Doha Metro network, pointing out that the advanced transport network, including trams and a fleet of energy-efficient buses, will play an important role in reducing carbon emissions, in addition to the electric buses that will be used during the tournament competitions.
The Ministry of Transportation has prepared exemplary plans and programs that balance the goal of organizing the first carbon-free World Cup with the country’s general strategy and Qatar National Vision 2030, which includes a gradual shift to the use of electric transportation and renewable energy, especially in the transportation sector to achieve the required percentage to reduce the rate of harmful carbon emissions caused by traditional transportation by 2030, in addition to achieving concerted efforts to preserve environmental sustainability.
The transport network is one of the main axes in hosting FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, as Qatar has achieved a huge leap in the development of this sector over the past years. The total investments in the public transport network during the past few years reached QR 84 billion, including QR 66.5 billion in the development of the Doha Metro network, QR 13.5 billion in the development of the Lusail Tram and QR 4 billion in the infrastructure of electric buses.
A public transport system has been developed to reduce the number of public transport cars and buses on the streets, including the Doha Metro, new bus routes, and tram systems in Lusail City and Education City, as well as replacing 25 percent of public buses with electric buses for use during the tournament, all with the aim of reducing greenhouse gases and air pollution.
In April 2022, the Ministry of Transportation received the last batch of 130 electric buses, thus completing the supply of all electric buses, with 741 electric buses to be used during the tournament, and later to become a permanent legacy of mass transportation of clean energy after the World Cup.
During its bid to host the first closely spaced edition in the modern history of the World Cup, Qatar took advantage of its geographical nature in order to reach carbon neutrality in the 2022 World Cup, as the eight stadiums are located within a small area, and the longest distance between two World Cup stadiums does not exceed 75 km. This will allow visitors and fans to stay in one residence for the duration of the tournament without the inconvenience of traveling from one city to another.
Five of the World Cup stadiums are connected to the Doha Metro, which acts as a link between the stadiums, while fans can reach the other three stadiums through buses designated for this purpose.
The advantages of the closely spaced nature of the World Cup in Qatar are not limited to providing comfort for fans, not having to travel long distances between stadiums, and providing the participating teams with the optimum atmosphere that guarantees them the best levels of performance, it would also eliminate the carbon footprint of the domestic flights that fans, players, officials and management teams had to make in previous World Cups.
Moreover, the designs of the eight stadiums for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 considered the commitment to carbon emission reduction standards in order to reduce energy and water consumption, and reuse and recycle water and materials as much as possible.
Among the eight stadiums, we find the exceptional and advanced “Stadium 974”, the first fully demountable stadium in the history of the World Cup and a sustainable stadium, due to its construction from shipping containers and detachable materials including walls, ceiling and seats.
Parts of the stadium, with a capacity of 40,000 fans, will be dismantled and reused for other purposes after the end of the tournament, including the establishment of sports facilities inside and outside Qatar.
In addition, highly efficient and environmentally friendly cooling systems have been used in all stadiums, as well as innovative lighting technologies that meet the requirements of sustainability and environmental preservation, as the energy used is generated from the main grid, which receives the energy coming from the Al-Kharsaah solar power plant.
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, represented by the Department of Monitoring and Environmental Laboratory, installed stations to measure air quality, gas emissions and dust in the World Cup stadiums.
These stations will contribute to strengthening the monitoring and control of ambient air quality and ensuring the best international standards for air quality in the country, in particular the venues for sports activities and various international events and tournaments, especially during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
As for the recycling process in World Cup stadiums, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 tournament has adopted many measures and procedures that organized the waste and waste sorting mechanism during the construction phase of the World Cup stadiums, with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint.
As part of the sustainable environmental legacy of the Qatar 2022 tournament and the commitment to implementing standards to reduce carbon emissions, tree planting is an important aspect of the design and construction of the World Cup stadiums.
As the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy is keen to preserve the local trees and plants surrounding the stadiums and the surrounding gardens, a campaign to ‘green’ the country is an opportunity to significantly reduce carbon emissions and leave behind a sustainable green legacy for the community.
In keeping with this, many sustainable green spaces and vast parks have been created in the areas surrounding stadiums, training venues and public spaces across Qatar. These facilities are irrigated with 100% recycled water. (QNA)