Environmental Impact of the 2010 World Cup

2010 World Cup

The Environmental Impact of the 2010 World Cup

In 2009, long before the FIFA World Cup in South Africa was scheduled to begin, the South African chief director of planning and coordination for the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Blessing Manale, stated that “The games will not begin if they are not green…We are going to make the 2010 the greenest World Cup yet.” (Mannak) While South Africa certainly publicized their intention to make the 2010 World Cup the greenest in history, and also spent enormous sums of money to do so, more than a year later is a good time to evaluate whether South Africa lived up to its promises or not.

According the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) “South Africa is committed to integrating environmental principles into the planning and organizing of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.” (UNEP) Running from June 11 to July 11, 2010, the World Cup was staged at ten separate venues across nine cities in South Africa. It was the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) which was responsible for promoting the use and protection of South Africa’s natural resources. And DEAT’s “Greening 2010 Program” was launched to “raise awareness, minimize waste, diversify and use energy efficiently, consume water sparingly, compensate our carbon footprint, practice responsible tourism, and construct our infrastructure with future generations in mind.” (UNEP)

The green goal of the program was to set the environmental targets for the game projects covering “stadiums, training venues, International Broadcast Centre, fan parks, public viewing areas, transport systems and accommodation.” (“Background Issues”) Eskom, South Africa’s electrical utility planned to use a variety of green energy sources including wind farms and biogas, and in conjunction with the Central Energy Fund installed energy efficient lighting for residential and street lights. And the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) funded a program to install solar-panels on street lights, traffic lights, and billboards.

Local organizing committees were to create a system of separating waste and FIFA officials were encouraged to implement waste avoidance and reduction mechanisms. This was to include minimizing packaging and reducing waste generation, as well as recycling as much waste as possible. Transportation was considered to be a major source of emission and the GEF also funded transportation initiatives like the use of bio-diesel, bio-ethanol, and fuel cells, as well as redesigning bus networks, cycling and pedestrian routes which could be used as an alternative to private automobiles. A Transportation Action Plan was developed which would invest in public transport and road infrastructure, rail upgrades, internodal facilities, rapid transit bus systems, and airport links. And to cut back on the carbon footprint from thousands of travelers flying from city to city, the Department if Transportation provided “a fleet of 2,035 luxury and standard buses, 60 train sets and 1,000 bus coaches.” (“Transport”)

The games in South Africa were expected to generate about 2.7 million tons of carbon emissions, with 65% of that from air travel. In order to offset this damage, many of the teams have contracted with environmental companies to offset their roughly “6,000 tons of carbon emissions through travel and during their stay at the tournament.” (Enviro News) Players will also be wearing shirts made from recycled plastic bottles which may inspire the millions of fans who are “expected to wear the eco-friendly shirts, which also takes 30% less energy to produce.” (South Africa Struggles)

In order to understand the environmental impact of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on the environment of South Africa it is important to understand that the estimated number of attendees to the games was 373,000. When this number is taken into account against the number of tourists who would have visited South Africa without the games, it is lower than normal. For instance, the games ran roughly the entire month of June 2010, and during the same period in 2009, there were 706,278 foreign visitors, while the year before, 2008, there were 688,688 foreign visitors. (Cottle) So, while the games may have had an impact on the environment, the games diverted the regular tourists from coming to South Africa, along with their normal carbon footprint.

Taking that into account, the city of Johannesburg’s “Bus Rapid Transit” (BRT) system was extremely popular and was “one of the largest carriers of fans to and from matches in the city.” (“New Transport Era”) At the time of the games, it was estimated that the BRT was transporting approximately 30% of the fans in the city of Johannesburg. Despite the success of the transportation system, Carl Death in his study of the environmental effects of the 2010 World Cup came to the conclusion that the games could not be considered to be successfully “green.” While South Africa did implement many successful small-scale projects, the best opportunity to promote an environmental agenda came with the games’ “visibility, branding and communication potential to catalyse greater environmental awareness and a stronger commitment to ecological modernization.” (Death, 2011) But due to a lack of leadership, coordination, and commitment, the opportunity to fully exploit the games’ potential as an environmental advertisement was not taken advantage of. South Africa wasted the opportunity to portray the games in a global setting as an example of an environmentally conscious international mega-event. Not only could the games have been an international sporting event, they could have been a way to increase global awareness to the problems of increased carbon emissions.

Overall, South Africa spend millions of dollars on a number of diverse programs intended to reduce the carbon footprint of the games. These included recycling, waste reduction, transport, and other numerous small-scale projects. While many of these were successful, the chance to promote the games as an overall environmental project was lost. The South African government’s internal politics, lack of leadership and commitment to the environmental cause, led to a failure to properly utilize the games as an example in the large-scale. But the success of the individual small-scale projects did prove that large, international events can be carried out while still being environmentally friendly; they just have to be done in the right way. If future events have the full support and commitment of a government, then they can serve a larger cause, but if the host nation’s government is divided and uncommitted to the environmental cause, an opportunity to raise environmental awareness on a global scale may be lost.

Works Cited

“Background Issues – 2010 FIFA World Cup.” South African Government Information.

Web. 12 Aug. 2011. http://www.info.gov.za/issues/world_cup/background.htm%20//%20environment

South Africa. 2 Sept. 2010. Web. 14 Aug. 2011. http://www.sah.ch/data/D23807E0/ImpactassessmentFinalSeptember2010EddieCottle.pdf

Death, Carl. “Greening’ the 2010 FIFA World Cup: Environmental Sustainability and the Mega-Event in South Africa.” Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning.

13.2 (2011). Print.

“Global Environmental Facility and UNEP Meeting Highlight Major Environmental Initiatives.”

United Nations Environment Programme – News Centre.” Web. 14

Aug. 2011.

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=624&ArticleID=6577&l=en

Mannak, Miriam. “World Cup 2010: Its Greenness in Question Worldpress.org.”

Worldpress.org – World News From World Newspapers. 2010, Jan. 13. Web. 15

Aug. 2011. http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/3478.cfm

“New Transport era for Joberg.” SouthAfrica.info. 25 June 2010. Web. 14 Aug. 2011.

http://www.southafrica.info/2010/reavaya-250610.htm

“South Africa Struggles to ‘Green’ World Cup Venues – Environmental Management & Energy News – Environmental Leader.” Environmental Management & Energy

News

Environmental Leader. Web. 13 Aug. 2011.

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/03/03/south-africa-struggles-to-green-world-cup-venues / http://www.gcis.gov.za/resource_centre/multimedia/posters_and_brochures/brochures/sa2010_govprep.pdf

“UNEP Climate Neutral Network – Greening 2010 FIFA World Cup.” United Nations

Environment Programme (UNEP) – Home Page. Web. 14 Aug. 2011.

http://www.unep.org/climateneutral/Default.aspx?tabid=496

2010. Web. 13 Aug. 2011. http://www.enviro-news.com/news/world-cup-football-teams-offset-co2-emissions.htmlfootball-teams-offset-co2-emissions.html

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

• Plagiarism free papers
• Timely delivery
• Any deadline
• Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
• Subject-relevant academic writer
• Adherence to paper instructions
• Ability to tackle bulk assignments
• Reasonable prices
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Get superb grades consistently

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

• When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
• We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

• The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
• We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
• Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment  Help Service Works

1.      Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2.      Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3.      Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4.      Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!