Article by: Dan Ryan
Despite warnings that the 2010 edition will have the highest carbon footprint in the history of the World Cup, South African organizers have pledged to ensure that the event is “green.” In keeping with a tradition started by Oslo during the 1994 Winter Olympics, a tourism official told WorldPress.org, “We are going to make 2010 the greenest World Cup yet.”
The 2006 World Cup, held in Germany, was climate neutral, encouraged the use of public transit and used solar panels to power some of the venues, according to Grist.com.
WorldPress also reported that 2.75 million tons of carbon emissions will be generated by the event, but that organizers are looking into buying renewable energy credits to offset them.
It would cost around $26.8 million to offset all of the anticipated emissions, but experts say the positive PR generated by such an environmentally-friendly move would far outweigh the negatives of the large cost.
