How the World Cup rebuilt a market for carbon credits

Football festival: People take photos with the official FIFA World Cup countdown clock in Doha. Organisers have pledged to erase the event’s negative environmental impact. — AP

LONDON: For almost a decade, the small, gas-rich country of Qatar has been one giant construction site. In preparation to host the FIFA World Cup this November, it’s built seven stadiums, new roads and dozens of hotels. Between the emissions generated by the new construction plus air travel to transport players and fans, the 2022 tournament is shaping up to be the most carbon-intensive on record.

World Cup organisers have pledged to erase the event’s negative environmental impact. They plan to make the event “carbon neutral” by buying offsets – paying, in theory, for carbon to be removed or reduced from the earth’s atmosphere somewhere else.