Tue, Oct 9, 2012 - Carbon
Footprint of South Africa 2010 Just 60 Per
Cent of Projected Figure - Other Achievements
Noted in Water and Waste Reduction
Further Resources
Download Report2010 Green Goal in South
AfricaUNEP Sport and the Environment InitiativeThe
actual footprint was 1.65 million Tonnes
of CO2 equivalent, compared to a projection
of 2.64 million.
UNEP worked with the
South African government through the Green
Goal 2010 project to promote initiatives
such as cutting the tournament's carbon
footprint, reducing waste and water use,
and conserving and enhancing biodiversity.
Such initiatives are set to be pushed to
the next level in Brazil with the aim of
creating truly green events.
While the Global Environment
Facility-funded review of South Africa's
green performance found many successful
initiatives, it said that a lack of focus
on environmental considerations in the planning
phase of the tournament meant the full potential
was not achieved.
"The report points
to many great initiatives, but perhaps the
most important finding is that South Africa
could have achieved more if sustainability
measures had been brought in sooner rather
than later," said UN Under-Secretary
General and UNEP Executive Director Achim
Steiner. "Indeed, it underlines that
achieving the full potential of greening
such tournaments is likely if sustainability
is factored into the planning, design and
construction from the word go."
Despite some difficulties
in compiling enough data to fully evaluate
the green performance of the tournament,
the report highlighted many specific examples
of success, including the following:
Moses Mabhida Stadium
in Durban incorporated energy-efficient
intelligent lighting as part of its Building
Management System to reduce energy usage
by 30 per cent, while Green Point Stadium
in Cape Town additionally used natural ventilation
systems to cut power use.
Cape Town retrofitted
streetlights with low-energy bulbs and traffic
lights with LEDs to cut its emission profile.
Durban offset its carbon
footprint through carbon sequestration,
planting 104,000 trees, and planned other
measures such as hydropower and biogas schemes
to completely account for the city's carbon
footprint of 307,000 Tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
A 94-kilometre Bus Rapid
Transport network was constructed in Johannesburg,
while similar networks, cycle paths, Park
and Ride systems and walkways were built
in Nelson Mandela Bay, Mbombela, Polokwane,
Mangaung and Rustenburg. All of these measures
contributed to cutting the event's carbon
footprint.
Moses Mabhida Stadium
- which used water metering, water-wise
fittings and rainwater harvesting into a
700m2 underground storage facility - cut
potable water use by 74 per cent, while
Green Point Stadium met its target of a
10-per-cent cut.
Two- and five-bin systems were used in most
spectator and catering areas, which in Durban
led to almost 200 tonnes of waste generated
during matches being recycled - beating
the Green Durban 2010 target for waste by
4 per cent.
95 per cent of demolition
waste was recovered and reused from the
old stadium in the building of Green Point
Stadium, Cape Town. In Moses Mabhida, 400
tonnes of steel and 400 tonnes of bricks,
masts, control gear, topsoil and seating
were salvaged for use in the new stadium
and other projects.
The tournament backed
the International Year of Biodiversity,
with a park set up in Cape Town and a greening
programme including removal of alien species
of vegetation and the rehabilitation of
wetlands in Mbombela. Awareness-building
programmes were carried out in schools in
Johannesburg.
Separately, UNEP teamed
up with PUMA and stars from the Cameroon
football team, including Samuel Eto'o, to
launch the Play for Life campaign to promote
biodiversity in Africa.
Based on its findings,
the report drew key conclusions for South
Africa that could help ensure a long-lasting
environmental legacy from the World Cup,
including:
The main areas of success
were in energy efficiency, renewable energy
and public transport, all of which should
be carried forward.
Renewable energy demonstration
projects should be implemented as soon as
possible, along with full implementation
of a national energy policy, to help steer
South Africa away from its dependence on
coal.
The improved transport
system should be considered the main legacy
project of the event, although efforts are
needed to expand the network, ensure roadworthy
vehicles and improve the image of public
transport.
While efforts were made
to minimize waste, not all host cities and
stadia were able to implement proper waste
segregation programmes and did not have
contracts with companies who would recycle
rather than landfill. A coherent and comprehensive
policy would have prevented problems, and
the implementation of such a policy could
be another vital legacy project.
Host cities and stadiums
showed positive initiatives in water conservation,
showing the value of watering metering and
the need for further installation of such
systems.
Looking forward from
2010, UNEP has signed an agreement with
the Brazilian government to help green the
two major sporting events it will host in
the next four years, carrying on with work
that has seen the organization advising
on Olympic Games since 2004.
The report also made
a raft of recommendations for improving
the greening of future large sporting events,
such as the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Some
of the main findings and recommendations
are:
Due to the omission
of environmental considerations as one of
the seventeen FIFA guarantees for hosting
the FIFA World Cup?, not enough effort was
placed on environmental management. This
issue merits serious consideration by FIFA.
Environmental guidelines,
including those for host cities, should
be clear and legally binding. Specific benchmarks
must be non-negotiable, measurable and backed
by law.
FIFA should consider
offsetting its own carbon footprint and
encourage its partners to do the same.
A written and publicly
declared commitment by all key stakeholders
towards the greening of the event is essential.
Funding opportunities
for greening initiatives should be explored
earlier to avoid situations where planned
programmes are not implemented due to lack
of funds, and the organizing committee should
allocate more resource to greening initiatives.
Generation of environmental
data is important for benchmarking performance.
The absence of environmental data in South
Africa made it difficult to assess the impact
of the greening initiatives.
The report also provides
an example of a checklist for environmental
performance in mass spectator events, which
would serve as a simple tool for integrating
sustainability concerns up front.
The report was unveiled
as UNEP officials met this week with representatives
from the Brazilian government, FIFA and
the Olympic committee to consider concrete
steps to green the two major sporting events.
About UNEP and Sport
UNEP's role in advising
the sporting world has gone from strength
to strength since it signed an agreement
with the International Olympic Committee
(IOC) in 1994. As well as South Africa 2010,
UNEP has advised on Athens 2004, Torino
2006, Beijing 2008 and Vancouver 2010. The
organization has also provided dozens of
recommendations to the Organizing Committee
of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games to provide
guidance on the integration of environmental
considerations in the preparation and staging
of the games.
