FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 publishes environmental audit

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 publishes environmental audit The English edition of the environmental audit of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011 (published in German in November 2011) is available for download from today. The Legacy Report documents the fact that the staging of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany between 26 June and 17 July 2011 was environmentally friendly and climate-neutral, and that a sustainable environmental management system was implemented at eight of the nine World Cup stadiums.

Click here for the environmental audit of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, produced by the Oeko-Institut 

Just as in 2006 full stadiums and a good atmosphere were evidence of the hospitality and cosmopolitan attitude of Germany and its cities. However, major sporting events can also have negative impacts on the climate and environment. That is why the German Football Association (DFB) – supported by the Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, FIFA and the Oeko-Institut – launched the Green Goal 2011 environment programme. The environmental impacts of the FIFA Women’s World Cup were reduced as far as possible by implementing measures in the areas of energy, transport, waste, water and catering, thus contributing to climate change mitigation. An important objective of Green Goal was to use the huge publicity of hosting the World Cup in Germany to raise awareness of environmental issues.

To compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions occasioned by the tournament, the Organising Committee and the DFB, supported by FIFA, invested a total of 600,000 euros on a voluntary basis. These funds are being used to finance five projects in developing countries, in order to offset a total of 40,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The projects meet the most stringent criteria and fulfil the requirements for Gold Standard certification.

An ECOPROFIT environmental management system was introduced at eight of the nine World Cup stadiums. Five workshops were held to inform staff at the stadiums about ecological and economic measures for cutting energy and water consumption and for preventing and reducing waste. In the course of the introduction of ECOPROFIT a total of 70 separate measures were implemented, which will result in continued annual savings of around six million kilowatt-hours of energy at the stadiums.