The World Cup in Brazil will be hosted in 12 cities and all of them are racing to create alternatives to reduce pollutants.
The Amazonas State is the most ambitious one, with the government working towards the goal of zero carbon emissions. The solution found is to encourage tourists who will go to Manaus to voluntarily mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by planting seedling of native species, as reported by the local newspaper A Crítica.
According to the head of the State Secretary for the Environment and Sustainable Development (SDS), Kamila Botelho, even though the action is voluntary, the idea is to raise awareness among the tourists of the need to avoid pollution, and learn to do so through actions such as that being proposed, bearing in mind that the Amazonas State has the largest forest cover in Brazil.
The SDS is doing an inventory that will be completed in February, which will point out the amount of Greenhouse Gases emissions (GHGs) that will be emitted during the World Cup, in Manaus. The study will help to implement compensatory measures to ensure that Manaus has zero CO2 emissions, and set actions for the city to achieve this goal. Kamila explains that the study follows the parameters of the United Nations Program and the project is based on a model used in Amsterdam.
The carbon offsetting will be done with the help of a digital calculator application that can be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, and will calculate the tourist’s carbon footprint.
The app is expected to be available for download in March, and will also show precisely how many seedlings the tourists will need to compensate their carbon footprint. Local people will also be able to offset their emissions, by paying a symbolic amount for the seedlings and doing the planting in person at local Sumaúma Park.
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