World Cup's expanded format faces scrutiny over soaring climate cost

The upcoming World Cup, set to kick off this Thursday, is facing scrutiny over its significant climate cost. With an expanded format featuring 48 teams and venues spread across North America, the tournament is expected to generate an estimated 7.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This figure is more than double the emissions of the 2022 Qatar World Cup and makes it the most polluting event of its kind ever staged.

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I think the World Cup, in theory, is really fun for the sport and for visibility - but bad from a climate standpoint.

Academics and campaigners highlight that the enlarged footprint, spanning 16 cities across three countries, drives the increased emissions. The vast distances teams, fans, and media will travel are the primary concern. Researchers estimate that approximately 87% of the tournament's carbon footprint will stem from travel, predominantly flights. The geographical spread, stretching 2,800 miles from Vancouver to Miami, inherently makes it more carbon-intensive than the compact Qatar event, which itself drew criticism for building seven new stadiums.

"I think the World Cup, in theory, is really fun for the sport and for visibility - but bad from a climate standpoint," said Madeleine Orr, an author and sports ecologist. David Gogishvili, a geographer at the University of Lausanne, explained that expanding the number of teams and placing them in locations requiring significant travel amplifies the environmental impact. While no new stadiums were built for this edition, the shift in scale and distance has merely transferred the environmental burden.

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Increase the number of the teams and then put them in a country where there needs to be significant travel first to get there by air, and then significant travel between the host locations, okay, we're getting rid of one source of negative environmental influence, but then we are increasing it in another.

To mitigate travel, venues are clustered into Western, Central, and Eastern regions. However, even with these measures, some teams face substantial travel. England, for instance, will cover 1,721 miles for their three group games in Dallas, Boston, and New Jersey. This comes as FIFA has pledged to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2040 under the U.N. Sports for Climate Action Framework. While FIFA has not set a specific target for the World Cup, Gogishvili noted that football's governing body is being compared to the International Olympic Committee, which is reportedly on track to halve its carbon footprint by 2050.

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At least they are on the right path.