World Cup a catalyst of green practices and tourism: Municipality Minister

While reiterating that Qatar is fully prepared to host the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, HE the Minister of Municipality Abdullah bin Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Subaie said that the tournament will boost the country in several aspects.The minister, while talking to beIN Sports, said Qatar is ready to organise an exceptional version of the most important sports tournaments that’s expected to be attended and followed by millions of spectators, including fans, visitors and viewers around the globe."The huge preparations and great achievements at the level of infrastructure were achieved with an ambitious vision and vigorous follow-up by the wise leadership, which set plans and harnessed all capabilities and support to reach this high readiness. Qatar loves challenges and has great experience in organising major tournaments over the past decades. And we look forward to organising a distinguished version that will remain in the memory of the world, and we have great enthusiasm to raise the name of Qatar and make a positive impact on the world level. The World Cup projects are an economic, social and environmental legacy for the people of the country. The large real estate stock will be a mainstay for the advancement of the tourism sector,” the minister said.He noted that the green spaces in Qatar had doubled during the past 12 years after Qatar won the World Cup bid. "We have launched great initiatives and the number of public parks in the country doubled from 56 in 2010 to 148 with an increase of 250%. Furjan parks and new residential cities were built with green spaces. The green areas in Qatar have doubled from 2.5mn sq m in 2010 to 43mn sq m with a 16 fold increase in green spaces,” he explained."We were keen to pay attention to the quality of the trees. We focused on local trees for their alignment with the geographical nature and their low consumption of water. Also we invested a lot in environmental sustainability solutions in the establishment of these gardens. As much as 70% of our gardens are irrigated with treated water while using the latest techniques. This helped save 80% of the water allocated to irrigate gardens and green spaces. We have been keen to provide advanced services and facilities in gardens and green spaces with suitable floors for children, advanced pedestrian and bicycle paths and fitness stations,” he said.HE the Minister explained that parks witnessed new elements such as the air-conditioned walkway and other sustainable solutions including the use of solar energy. "Qatar has witnessed a great development of infrastructure not only for a championship. We are building a legacy for the people of this country to benefit economically, socially and environmentally, through World Cup projects,” he said, adding that the country owns a large real estate stock."We have a large number of hotels that have recently opened and this will certainly be a mainstay for the tourism sector. Today we are talking about food and beverage outlets and the hospitality sector, which in turn will enhance the services of the tourism sector. These will have a tourism, economic and developmental return that will bring benefits to the country in the future,” the minister said.HE al-Subaie also pointed out that Qatar has pledged that the tournament will be environment-friendly and carbon-neutral, noting that steps are taken to reduce carbon emission during the tournament. "We expect the tournament to generate 800 tonnes of waste per day. As much as 60% of this waste will be recycled and used again. The remaining 40% will be food residues and other non-recyclable things that will be converted into fertilisers. All of this comes within the framework of preserving natural resources and preserving the environment,” he added.