Protecting the environment and achieving sustainable development goals remain at the forefront of Qatar’s environment policy on which the country has worked during the past ten years as part of its preparation for the FIFA World Cup 2022 to deliver a carbon neutral sporting event.
As sustainability is core issue for the State of Qatar, it has set a track to achieve carbon neutrality, committing to deliver the first-ever carbon neutral World Cup in the world. Achieving these goals requires offsetting carbon emissions through quality projects and making all infrastructure projects including the eight stadiums meet stringent sustainability benchmarks.
In order to achieve this, Qatar in construction of World Cup Qatar 2022 projects used recycled materials wherever possible and implemented a vast range of energy and water efficiency solutions.
Therefore the concept of green building and introduction of large-scale of trees were adopted as strategy for cutting down carbon emissions and support the carbon-neutrality goals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
This commitment and the actual achievement on the ground few months ahead of international sporting tournament have made FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 the first tournament in the world to achieve ISO 20121 certification.
It is a prestigious global recognition by an international body and assurance that Qatar has successfully met the requirements for developing and implementing an effective management system to deliver a sustainable event. The certification was granted after an extensive audit process that was initiated during the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 which was held exactly a year before the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East and Arab world. Thanks to the innovative partnership launched by Qatar and the International Football Association (FIFA) in 2019.
Obtaining this prestigious international certificate confirms that Qatar has adopted and implemented the best practices for addressing environmental sustainability, based on its believe that sustainability is a critical element of planning and preparation for the upcoming tournament.
The CEO of Qatar 2022 Nasser Al Khater expressed his pride in the tournament’s obtaining this prestigious international certificate, stressing that sustainability has been at the heart of Qatar 2022 from the start. This is through planning and using materials from sustainable sources and implementing innovative legacy plans to deliver a net-zero sport events. Qatar believes that to achieve sustainability goals there is always a need for developing strategies and design standards that enhance quality of life and protect the environment and no doubt that this certification is testimony to the sustainability efforts of everyone in our organization.
