The carbon footprint that football boots will leave during the World Cup in South Africa will reach 2.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent to 6,000 space launches. This is the calculation made by the South African Tourism authorities in collaboration with the Norwegian Embassy, and which is echoed by the British newspaper The Guardian .
Most of the broadcasts will come from the transfer of spectators and players to the stadiums (slightly more than 2/3). "Given that it is estimated that 1.2 million people will watch the matches live, it will cost 2.3 tons per viewer, equivalent to the consumption of 4 months of gas and electricity in an average home," they explain in The Guardian . In addition, it is estimated that each of the 64 games will be watched on television by 93 million people around the world. If in addition each person did it alone on a plasma screen, the emissions would multiply by two.
The study aims to reflect on the environmental cost of events of this magnitude.
