Sustainability
Over the past decade, FIFA has continued to strengthen its requirements and programmes related to environmental protection, encompassing issues such as climate change, waste management, recycling, sustainable construction and procurement.
In 2016, FIFA was the first sports federation to join the UN Sports for Climate Action framework, the objective of which is to gather sports federations, organisations, teams, athletes and fans in a concerted effort to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
This commitment has translated into concrete actions to protect our planet, in particular around FIFA’s flagship events. FIFA measured, took steps to reduce and then offset the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) related to the operations of the FIFA World Cup™ tournaments of Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. For Qatar 2022, the GHG emissions directly related to the tournament and within the operational control of the tournament organisers as per the GHG accounting report were offset, while offsetting of GHG emissions outside the operational control of the organisers (international fan and media travel and accommodation) is still being implemented and finalised by Qatar. For the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, FIFA has also offset the emissions under its operational control.
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ Sustainability Strategy consisted of a number of initiatives to reduce tournament-related emissions, including energy-efficient stadiums (e.g. through the use of energy-efficient lighting systems, pioneering and energy-efficient cooling technology, the installation of low-flow fixtures, and GSAS sustainable building certification of the stadiums), low-emission transport (including on-site transport services through the Doha Metro, over 900 electric buses and more than 100 electric vehicle charging stations), and sustainable waste management (including reuse and recycling of construction materials during stadium construction, and recycling, composting and reuse of waste from stadium operations). Our online Final Sustainability Report describes how FIFA and Qatar implemented the initiatives of the Sustainability Strategy and identifies key achievements and challenges.