After COP 27, the environment and human rights at the centre of the World Cup

While COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh (Egypt) ends this Friday, November 18, with a mixed assessment, given the climate emergency and the vulnerability of the countries of the South to the major polluters of the North, it is the World Football Championships in Qatar that open on Sunday, November 20, in a climate that is, to say the least, unprecedented: many people are denouncing an “ecological aberration” in view of the construction of the infrastructure, the air conditioning of open air stadiums, and flights in the region… It is difficult to believe the organizers who promise a “carbon neutral” World Cup.
The first country in the Arab world to organize a World Cup, Qatar is also strongly criticized for its human rights violations, especially in regards to foreign workers, almost reduced to slavery, women, sexual minorities… On top of that, suspicions of corruption arise. Calls for a boycott are multiplying. Probably a little too late.

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