A CUP OF CARBON

SPORTING EVENTS MAY UNITE THE WORLD AND PROVIDE HOST NATIONS ECONOMIC BENEFITS, BUT THEY INCREASE CARBON EMISSIONS. HOSTED BY INDIA COULD FOLLOW THIS TREND

- NIDHI SINGAL

WITH THE SHOWPIECE ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup well underway, the tension and anticipation are palpable in the air, and with good reason. In 2011, the last time India hosted the Cup, it lifted the trophy. Indeed, since then, the two subsequent hosts—Australia in 2015 and England in 2019—won the Cup, further boosting the host’s hopes.

That optimism has also been fuelled by the Indian team’s formidable line-up, featuring the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.

And India is expected to host over 2.48 million visitors wishing to watch the 48 matches involving 10 countries that will be played in stadiums across 10 cities over 46 days between October 5 and November 19. With such numbers, the tournament is seen boosting the economy and the fortunes of India’s cricketing administrator, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

But amid this excitement, there is one aspect that will need to be reckoned with—the Cup’s carbon footprint. Although projected carbon emission figures for the event haven’t been officially calculated, industry experts estimate that it could rival the emissions seen at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, estimated at around 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, or the equivalent of 1.34 billion litres of diesel, based on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s calculator. But, no measures to offset such emissions have been announced.

SOURCES OF EMISSION

TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION

INFRASTRUCTURE AND VENUE CONSTRUCTION

ENERGY USAGE

WASTE GENERATION