Medals made from recycled telephones… The initiative is symbolic but it reflects the will of the Rugby World Cup organizing committee to fight for the defense of the environment. From Friday, nearly 600,000 foreign visitors are expected in France to experience the major sporting event of the year. According to figures announced Monday morning by the Minister of Sports, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, 85% of the carbon impact for this World Cup is linked to international travel.
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Powerless in the face of the flow of foreign teams and fans to France, the former tennis player recalls that it is therefore important to “promote the use of the train as much as possible” in France. She puts forward a rate of 88% for spectators and 80% for teams. “We have anticipated all the additional pressure that we are going to suffer, continues Amélie Oudéa-Castera. This allows us to have a train occupancy rate of 75%. No risk of saturation. In the nine host cities , we formalized the tram, bus and TER reinforcements.” In Paris, the transport lines leading to the Stade de France will be reinforced in order, in particular, to avoid a new fiasco after that of the Champions League final in 2022.
Facilitating train travel, the major challenge
The ecological issue will not be neglected. This is also the message that Jacques Rivoal, the boss of the organizing committee of the World Cup, wanted to convey on Monday. “The environmental footprint of a major sporting event is a real challenge,” he underlines after recalling that the competition will only take place in stadiums that have already been built. More concretely, several actions were undertaken for the competition such as the installation of bi-flow bins in all the stadiums (half were not equipped with these recycling bins). “We are committed to recycling food surpluses in our catering services with a partnership with the Federation of Food Banks. Two million households suffer from malnutrition, we are going to help them”, adds Jacques Rivoal.
While these initiatives are welcome, the major challenge remains travel. Carbon emissions that have been estimated at 350,000 tons. A budget of one million euros has been allocated by the GIP to offset or even absorb these high CO2 emissions. In addition to the use of the train, that of carpooling for supporters will also be promoted. It remains to be seen whether fans will follow these recommendations when it comes to going to the stadiums.
Original article published on RMC Sport