INTERVIEW - Germany to Score Green Goal at World Cup
Date: 29-May-06
Country: GERMANY
Author: Erik Kirschbaum
Both the Germany and Brazil squad will use trains, as well as planes, to travel around the country, solar panels will adorn stadium roofs, rain water is being harvested and beverages will be sold in resuable cups.
But far from being some sort of utopia for tree-lovers, the measures are a reflection of attitudes in a country with a history of tackling green issues.
"The World Cup is a great chance to put a focus on the environment around the world and will hopefully raise awareness everywhere," Klaus Toepfer, the "Green Goal" ambassador for the tournament, said in an interview with Reuters.
"Our aim is to offset the total CO2 emissions caused by the World Cup in Germany also through promoting public transport during the event," said Toepfer, until last month the executive director of the United Nations Environmental Programme.
"We also know big sport events create an avalanche of waste. We explored: How to reduce that? How to recycle? Awareness is rising. This is the first time for a football World Cup after we had quite successful endeavors at the Olympics since Sydney."
The "Green Goal" was launched last year with the aim of offsetting the estimated 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide generated within Germany by transportation, construction of the stadiums and the presence of an expected 3.2 million spectators.
All ticket holders, for instance, can ride public transport for free on match days, thousands of accredited journalists will receive free month-long rail passes for the country's train network and stadium drinks will be sold in reusable "Cups of the Cup".
"It's wonderful to send the signal you can get to the match much better without your car," said Toepfer, a driving force behind the "Green Goal."
"The greening of the World Cup is not a little project on the margins, but at the heart of a lot of interest around the world," said Toepfer. "It's a first but only a beginning."
Toepfer, a former German environment minister before leading the UN agency, acknowledged that soccer fans have not historically been noted for special interest in the environment.
RAISE AWARENESS
"Indeed that was one of the positive soft by-products of this project," he said. "It's a bonus to raise awareness. Fans of Chelsea or Real Madrid might think twice about their behaviour later on if they know the consequences on the environment."
Toepfer said whether the targets were met will be examined afterwards. He said he was delighted the "Green Goal" was also being embraced by World Cup countries and pleased that Euro2008 in Austria and Switzerland also want to adopt it.
"Costa Rica just arrived here and they decided they would offset their CO2 emissions for the flight to Germany and back and invest money in forests as part of a national project. "It would be great if all nations coming here could do the same."