More than a million soccer fans will travel to Qatar this fall for one of the biggest sporting events on Earth: The FIFA World Cup. The event sounds like it will be a climate nightmare, thanks to all the flights, air conditioned outdoor fields, docked cruise ships and brand new stadiums. But despite all this – the organizers claim this month-long event will be carbon neutral. How can they say that? Thanks to carbon offset credits. On this episode we dive deep into the murky world of carbon offset credits to find out how they work, who makes the rules and what all this means for the World Cup.

Guests

Suzi Kerr, Chief Economist, Environmental Defense Fund
Danny Cullenward, Policy Director, (carbon)plan
Derik Broekhoff, Senior Scientist, Stockholm Environment Institute

Calls to Action

Check out the Carbon Credit Quality Initiative’s handy guide to carbon offsets
Curious about the carbon offsets offered by airlines these days? Find out more about where that money is actually going with these guides from Business Traveller and The Points Guy.

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This episode of How to Save a Planet was produced by Lonnie Ro. The rest of our reporting and producing team includes Kendra Pierre-Louis, Rachel Waldholz, Anna Ladd, and Daniel Ackerman. Our supervising producer is Lauren Silverman. Our editor is Caitlin Kenney. Our intern is Janae Morris. Sound design and mixing by Peter Leonard with original music from Emma Munger. Our fact checker for this episode was Claudia Geib.

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Air Conditioned Stadiums. Cruise Ships. New Hotels. Can the World Cup in Qatar Really Be Carbon Neutral?