To: Fatma Samoura, Gianni Infantino and Federico Addiechi of FIFA
FIFA, Come Clean on your "Carbon Neutral" Claims
For the sake of football fans of today and the fans of tomorrow, we call on FIFA to learn from the mistakes of Qatar and:
1. Ditch the carbon neutral claim for Qatar and launch a review before the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July 2023.
2. Take a more robust and responsible approach to sustainability that aims to reduce emissions in the first place. The initial focus should be on largest sources of emissions.
3. Only use offsets as a last resort through the most well regarded, rigorous, and verifiable international offsetting mechanisms.
Climate change is our fiercest opponent and every member of the team needs to bring their a-game. We’re in the final moments of extra time and we’re heading for penalties - but it’s not over yet. As football fans and players, the ball is resting at our feet.
Let’s clear our heads, block out the noise, and shoot for goal.
Why is this important?
From kick-abouts in the park, to Premier League derby days and the World Cup Final, football’s a game of courage, teamwork and fierce loyalty. And with its ability to capture the hearts and minds of billions of fans across every corner of the globe, football has an unrivalled opportunity to lead and inspire action to protect and improve the world we live in by harnessing the values that make it the beautiful game.
When it comes to climate change, that opportunity is one we can’t afford to pass up.
Record-breaking heat waves, flooding and poor air quality are already impacting the sport we love and depriving both young players and fans of a future in which football thrives. Without ambitious and immediate action, climate change’s grip on football’s future will tighten. Globally, we have seen sporting events and tournaments postponed due to extreme heat, players withdrawing because of the dangers of pollution and heat exhaustion, and the legacies of international sporting events vanishing as climate change creates conditions that make sport impossible to play.
Climate change is the opponent we must tackle - and we’re already deep into extra time. Whatever shirt we wear or chant we sing, we’ve got everything to gain from taking action.
That’s why at the World Cup - the biggest stage in world football - we want to see real leadership from our governing bodies, using football’s unrivalled platform to set the bar for future tournaments. But, instead of taking this golden chance, FIFA’s currently set itself up to miss its best shot at goal.
In just a couple of weeks, the FIFA Men’s World Cup in Qatar will kick off. The tournament has been labelled as the first “fully carbon neutral FIFA World Cup tournament”, meaning its overall impact on the planet should be zero. But that’s not true. In reality, FIFA’s sustainability strategy for the Qatar World Cup rests on flawed carbon calculations, questionable offsetting practices, and shifting the responsibility onto fans rather than shouldering it themselves. As criticism mounts around shameful human rights violations in Qatar, carbon neutrality claims are being used as a distraction. Players, fans and the planet deserve better.
Climate change is one of the defining issues of our time, with action taken this decade defining the future of the planet - and FIFA is well placed to lead by example.
With its enormous global profile at the very top of international football, FIFA has an unmatched opportunity to provide leadership where we need it most.
A report from Carbon Market Watch earlier this year casts serious doubt over FIFA’s claims of carbon-neutrality, and questions the quality, transparency and integrity of the offsetting practices put in place for the World Cup in Qatar.
This petition is for football fans, players, clubs and organisations to call on FIFA to withdraw their claims around carbon neutrality and take a more robust and responsible approach to future World Cups, only using offsets as a last resort.
#FIFAComeClean
