Birmingham to host the first ever carbon neutral XXII Commonwealth Games
Ian Reid, chief executive of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham has announced a “carbon-neutral” sustainability strategy – including plans to create 72 new urban forests in the West Midlands and a further 2,022 acres of woodland.
Organisers are also hoping to change the way people living in the region think about sustainable issues that will lead to behavioural change right across the region. “Mr Reid said “There’s a huge number of areas where the Games will have to manage its carbon footprint – transport from international travel, energy, to all the infrastructure we put in for the Games”
Plans are afoot for the use of native species to create the new forests in an effort for people to reconnect with nature and offset the event’s carbon footprint. Dame Louise Martin, president of the Commonwealth Games Federation, described the plans as a historic moment for Commonwealth sport, saying “It reinforces our commitment to ensure that the Games leaves a positive social and environmental legacy for generations to come”
It is clear that Birmingham 2022 Commonweath Games plans have strong ambitions to set new standards not only to support a regionwide economic recovery but to also demonstrate how the Games will leave a credible piece of social and environmental legacy.
The Birmingham Games will be the largest multi-sport event to be held in England in 10 years. Approximately 6,500 athletes and team officials from 71 nations and territories across the Commonwealth will come together in a 12-day celebration of sport and culture. Events will take place across Birmingham and the West Midlands, entertaining more than one million ticketed spectators and reaching a global broadcast audience of more than one billion.
