UN, Ronaldo & Zidane spotlight bid to promote 'Green' 2010 World Cup
30 Aug '06
3 min read
United Nations
United Nations Goodwill Ambassadors and renowned international football players Ronaldo Luiz Nazariode Lima and Zinédine Zidane along with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) issued a joint statement supporting plans to build a cleaner, healthier, energy-efficient public transport system in South Africa in time for the 2010 World Cup.
“The FIFA World Cup is a stage for the skills and talents of the world's finest footballers, and teams. But it is also a real opportunity to showcase the talents of engineers, designers, architects and city planners and their solutions for a cleaner, fairer, and ultimately more just planet,” they said.
An eco-friendly project to achieve that highlighted today at the opening of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly in Cape Town “is about much more than the mobility of footballers and fans,” said UNDP Associate Administrator Ad Melkert, who is a participant in the GEF conference.
The project will investigate clean energy alternatives to fossil fuel-driven transport, make public transport a viable alternative to private cars for match spectators, and create better, sustainable transport planning around the country. This, said Mr. Melkert, “will leave a lasting legacy with South Africa taking the lead in pushing back pollution that is now 'suffocating' many of the poor.”
For the first time the world's greatest football tournament will be hosted by an African country, and with around 300,000 international visitors expected, the South African Government wants to ensure that the current unreliable, polluting and dangerous public transport system gets the attention it will require to accommodate them.
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