By traveling by train, players change their mindsets
Posted Sep 09, 2023
Friday 8 September marked the start of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. But even before they set foot on the pitch at the Stade de France, the players marked the difference by arriving in Paris by train. The organizing committee’s desire to ensure that 70% of the team travels by rail to reduce the carbon footprint of the event. If, in fact, the track is set, the transfer of fans still weighs heavily on the scales.
17 out of 20 teams will use the train for their travels during the competition.
The All Blacks lead by example. On Thursday 7 September, the New Zealand rugby team arrived by train in Paris, venue for the first World Cup match in France. After they left Lyon, they made a great entrance.
The All-Blacks arrive at the Gare de Lyon in Paris. They took a high-speed train from Lyon, two days before the opening match of the World Cup #rugby world cup 2023 pic.twitter.com/ek1JHYz3UH
– Julien Da Suisse (@jdasois) September 6, 2023
In fact, the Rugby World Cup Organizing Committee has announced that air transport will be avoided as much as possible during the competition, whose 48 matches will be played in ten French cities. Thus, 80 rail trips will be carried out for 17 out of the 20 participating teams, which represents 70% of the trips during the event. The rule is simple: the train and bus will be used to reach the stations systematically on all journeys under 5.5 hours. This is the case for Ireland, which will sail between Tours and Saint-Denis, or even Uruguay, which will travel to Lille from Avignon.
Transfer of 2.5 million supporters
“We want to show that a major sporting event, like all companies, can also try to reduce its carbon footprint.”Jacques Rival, President of France 2023 and responsible for organizing the competition, announced during a press conference. Earn 20 minutes. This choice would make it possible to reduce its carbon footprint by 50%, according to estimates by Michel Bossu, Director General of the 2023 World Cup. As for spectators, who account for a large part of the carbon footprint of the event, the railways are also privileged.
The organizing committee is counting on 88% of train travel for the 2.5 million fans expected to watch the matches. To do this, SNCF strengthened its offer, for example, by offering 10,000 low-cost tickets between Paris and the Center Val de Loire region in September. For longer trips, the train also looks attractive. For England’s first matchTrainline notes in a press release “418% increase in the number of passengers traveling to Marseille compared to last year.” Please note that 600,000 foreign spectators are expected to attend, which significantly increases the environmental footprint of the competition.
The carbon footprint must be accurate
If Jacques Rivoule estimated the event’s total carbon footprint at 410,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), Sami climate experiences platform One study measures an even higher footprint, about 640,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. According to this report, 73% of emissions come from travel, followed by accommodation and restaurants (14%), then digital (10%). The remaining 3% is divided between trade, infrastructure and waste. For comparison, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar produced 6 million tons of CO2 equivalent, or ten times more than the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The comparison is qualified, because the methodologies used may differ.
However, the efforts made by the organizing committee may be marred by the problem of choosing a sponsor for the competition. On August 30, Greenpeace pointed the finger In an awareness campaign The participation of the giant TotalEnergies in this sporting event, as the NGO believes that this partnership aims to do so “Diverting public attention from their climate-destroying activities.”.
The fact remains that between football and rugby, the commitment is not the same, exactly one year after the ‘sand yachting’ controversy. At the beginning of September 2022, Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier then joked about the issue of his team traveling in private planes, which are very carbon intensive. For the Rugby World Cup organizing committee, there is no question of following the same path.
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