Greening 2010 FIFA World Cup

Introduction

South Africa, through its National Greening Programme was committed to integrating environmental principles into the planning and organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The initiative was intended to sensitise the local and international football community to environmental sustainability issues and the securing of a long-term foundation for environmental concerns in national and international football.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was staged at 10 venues across nine South African cities Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Nelspruit, Polokwane, Bloemfontein, Rustenburg and Pretoria. Johannesburg was the home to two world cup stadiums – Soccer City and Ellis Park. The Greening Programme's aims were to ensure that there was sound environmental management in all the host cities.

The 2010 Soccer World Cup presented an opportunity to enhance environmental sustainability for South Africa and its citizens. The aim was to reinforce the significance of environmentally responsible lifesyles within the context of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and the country’s economic and social development programmes.

Strategy

The 2010 FIFA World CupTM wasl undoubtedly a spectacular football event. It was an amazing opportunity for South Africa and the African continent to host an event of that magnitude and that in itself was a great achievement.

A green 2010 FIFA World CupTM was proudly hosted and this was taken as an opportunity to raise awareness and to lay a foundation and set new and higher standards for greening future events in South Africa. Event greening has steadily gained momentum in the past decade. Host cities and event organisers continued to organise their events in such a manner that embraced the concept of sustainable development.

This was done through successfully implementing initiatives, programmes and practices which have a minimum or neutral impact on the natural resource base. The the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) [now the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA)], the lead government department responsible for promoting sustainable use and protection of our natural resources, had proudly committed to building partnerships and a coordinated network of actions that weer aimed at ensuring scoring green in 2010.

South Africa strives to remain on top of global environmental management best practice through lessons learnt from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and new initiatives which combined, were aimed at delivering a 2010 event with a minimum ecological footprint. FIFA’s mission statement for the 2010 World Cup included three key messages “Develop the Game”, “Touch the World” and “Build a Better Future".

South Africa’s Greening 2010 programme was therefore be a demonstration and contribution to the quest 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. These greening initiatives looked beyond the actual timeframe of the sporting activity and included concerns for post-event, environmental, social and economic impact of the event on the immediate and extended environment.

South Africa was committed to greening the 2010 World Cup by focusing on the following pillars: conservation of water and energy, waste management, transport and mobility and carbon offsetting.