Did you know that Fifa has a programme within its organisation called Green Goal? You’ll have to dig through the website quite a bit before you find it.

By Sarah Osman

The aim of the 2010 Green Goal is to ensure that environmentally conscious measures are put in place to make up for the estimated 2.75 million ton carbon footprint that comes along with South Africa hosting the World Cup.

Sarah goes soccer!

Sarah Osman (1980) was born in Sudan, and has been living in the Netherlands for the past 11 years. She’s been working in the field of development cooperation for the past 3 years, and has recently decided to take her skills and knowledge back to Africa. Her first stop is Cape Town, South Africa. After her column Wanted! Home in Africa for RNW, Sarah goes soccer.  In this latest column, she will share with us her experiences of the build-up to the 2010 World Cup in Cape Town. Not the mainstream news, but background stories that often get missed in the euphoria of the big event.

Not even good on paper
I found out about Green Goal after meeting a gentleman who is working for one of the environmental departments at the City of Cape Town. I became very excited because although Green Goal is primarily meant to ensure an environmentally friendly World Cup, I thought that plans would be made to utilise the opportunity presented by the World Cup to take on long term solutions that will have environmental benefits for the city.

Paradoxically, the focus of the Action Plan put together by the city, which was only published in 2008, is on short term measures such as ensuring that stadiums capture rainwater which can then be used for irrigating Green Point Common. Another is to build houses with recycled materials in the centre of the city and the Atlantic Seaboard. Although this is important, since recycling is not a word that is in the local vocabulary and most apartment blocks in the centre do not provide any recycling facilities, the outskirts of the city - where access to water is a privilege rather than a right - are given no mention. 

Sustainability
The bulk of the environmental actions focus on raising awareness among those coming to visit South Africa during the World Cup and little is done to spread the word to locals. For example, one of the 9 2010 Green Goal focus areas is landscaping and biodiversity. A small budget of 100,000 Rand (10,000 euros) is allocated to train workers in indigenous gardening. With little attention being paid to local methods that are more likely to lead to long term sustainability, little can be reached in terms of promoting a South African model of environmental consciousness. 

Mixed messages
Germany is said to have set the golden standard by hosting one of the most environmentally conscious mega sporting events, reaching 13 of its 16 set objectives prior to hosting the World Cup in 2006.

Although a great example to aspire to, Germany (in my experience) is home to some of the most environmentally conscious people on the planet. South Africans are generally not included in the discussion around the importance of looking after our planet. Communication from local experts regarding the environment is minimal. So, while colour coded bins are set up in South African airports in celebration of the World Cup, plans to build a couple more nuclear power plants in Cape Town are being finalised. This leads to mixed messages about South Africa’s position regarding the environment.