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Santhosh Chandran
Doha
THE FIFA 2022 World Cup in Qatar will be a carbon-neutral event, said the President of Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) Essa bin Hilal al Kuwari while delivering a speech on behalf of the Minister of Energy and Industry HE Mohammed bin Saleh al Sada on Sunday.
Speaking at the opening session of the two-day 'Sustainability Summit' in Doha, Kuwari said,"The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which is responsible for organising FIFA World Cup 2022, aims at having a carbon neutral tournament with all its facilities complying with the Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS) standards approved by FIFA."
He added,"Kahramaa through its energy conservation programme 'Tarsheed' aims to reduce the per capita consumption of water and electricity by 35 percent and 25 percent respectively in the next five years. Qatar also targets to reduce carbon emission by 6 million tonnes by 2022."
The summit organised by Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (GORD) in association with SC discusses the role of renewable energy in diversifying conventional energy resources and reducing harmful emissions.
"Agriculture is one sector that has been most affected by climate change as most human activity is centred around energy, industry, urban development and transportation of all kinds which are responsible in one way or another for a large part of greenhouse gas emission. In terms of global carbon footprint, Qatar, the world's largest exporter of LNG, contributes to reducing carbon emission globally through the use of natural gas, which is one of the cleanest sources of fuel," Kuwari said.
Describing the participation of Qatar in World Climate Conference held in Germany recently, Kuwari said,"The most important success of the conference from our perspective was its support to Qatar's joint programme on agriculture and climate change within the political agenda."
The event also marked the 10th anniversary of Global Sustainability Assessment System (GSAS), the first performance-based system in the MENA region, developed for rating the green buildings and infrastructure.
In his keynote speech, Senior Sustainability Manager of FIFA Qatar 2022 (Local Organising Committee) Jose Retana said,"It is inevitable that the preparations, staging and post event activities associated with the WC 2022 will have positive impact on communities, economies and natural environments both in Qatar and internationally. The FIFA World Cup in 2022 is an opportunity first and foremost for the Arab World and the Middle East to showcase its true peaceful nature to the rest of the world. It is an opportunity for people to travel to the region and delve beyond the stereotypes that have been perpetrated for decades and centuries. The importance of people-to-people relations should not be underestimated and there is no more effective vehicle for this than football the World Cup."
It is noteworthy that Qatar Petroleum, Kahramaa, Ashghal, Qatar Rail, Civil Aviation Authority and Ministry of Transport and Communications have also taken initiatives to make their projects environment friendly according to energy strategy of the country.
Meanwhile, GORD Sustainability Awards were distributed on the occasion for the best building design and construction practices in Qatar. The buildings that received the award were Kahramaa Awareness Park, Khalifa International Stadium, Hamad Port, National Museum, Milaha Logistics Warehouse, Ashghal Asset Affairs Building, Qatar Petroleum District, Katara Beach Club, Kuwait National Petroleum Company office building and Headquarters of Ministry of Municipality and Environment.
Founding Chairman of GORD Yousef Alhorr also spoke on the occasion. Representatives of International Energy Agency, International Atomic Energy Agency, Arab Union of Electricity, Arab Engineering Bureau, Qatar National Research Fund, Qatar Airways, Qatar Rail and academia from Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Qatar University also attended the event.
