Costa Rica will offset its national soccer team’s carbon footprint during the 2018 World Cup in Russia by purchasing bonds that help fund an environmental project, officials said Wednesday. The initiative is the fruit of an alliance between Costa Rica’s soccer federation and the country brand “Essential Costa Rica” and is aimed at fostering a culture of environmental sustainability.
Costa Rica’s National Forest Financing Fund estimates that the Ticos’ national team will generate 286.9 metric tons of carbon emissions during the round-robin phase of soccer’s international showcase event.
To offset that footprint, the national federation and Essential Costa Rica will buy carbon bonds that support the Proyecto Caribe (Caribbean Project), an initiative that protects a 1,250-hectare (4.8-square-mile) area of Costa Rican rainforest.
