On almost every street in Abidjan, the country's economic hub, there are posters and billboards glorifying the Elephants, the nickname of the Ivorian national team, or praising the "AFCON of hospitality," the name given to the 34th edition of this holy grail of African football.
On the other hand, there was little displayed referencing the "AFCON de la propreté" (AFCON of cleanliness) initiative, promoted by the government, which, through Environment Minister Jacques Assahore Konan, is urging fans to "think environment" during the tournament and adopt "environmentally responsible behaviors." "Although changes in behavior take time, people are beginning to get the message," observed Gustave Aboua, a senior official at the ministry.
Raising awareness, mainly in sports stadiums and on social media, remains the primary strategy used by the authorities. Other measures have certainly been taken, but according to Edi Boraud, who is in charge of climate issues at the FIPME small businesses' federation, "nobody really looked at the environmental dimension of the competition before it got underway."
As for the question of waste, which the estimated 1.2 million tourists attending the tournament will produce in abundance, the National Agency of Waste Management, ANAGED, signed a partnership agreement in early January with COCAN, the AFCON organizing committee, on recycling after collection in and around the six stadiums.
On the transport front, the government has deployed a fleet of public buses in each host city in order to reduce individual journeys. "This permanent measure represents a real step forward in terms of de-cluttering and de-polluting the roads," promised Aboua. In Abidjan, some 600 shuttles have been mobilized to, in theory, drop off fans near the stadium in Ebimpé, on the edge of the city.
Despite these notable efforts, it is hard to describe this AFCON as "green": the deployment of 10,000 young volunteers to manage the fan zones, AFCON villages and other festive gathering spots does not compensate for the absence of trash cans, and on the roads, where there is always traffic, individual cars remain dominant.
Pro-environment initiatives remain "too timid," said Kherann Yao, co-founder of the environmental NGO Green Ivoiry. "There have been no real changes," added Boraud, pointing to the example of stadiums that remain lit day and night, whether matches are being held there or not. The record is therefore mixed for a country that aims to become "a champion in the fight against global warming," as the Environment Ministry has announced.
In the absence of an accurate anticipation of the environmental cost of its AFCON, Côte d'Ivoire intends to study this cost via the Afrik-Ecolo initiative. Spearheaded by FIPME and supported by the executive branch, the project seeks to assess the level of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted during the competition in order to create an action plan to reduce them at future major events in the country and across the continent.
"We want to evaluate everything," said Boraud, enthusiastically launching into a jumbled list, including stadium construction, the airline sector, hotels, and lighting in fan zones, among others. Some 15 members of Afrik-Ecolo are busy collecting data in the host cities. The study, scheduled for December 2024, is intended by its promoter to become "a national and sub-regional reference."
One avenue has already been suggested: voluntary carbon offsets, a tool designed to encourage polluters to commit to "virtuous projects" as compensation, such as reforestation or the construction of low-carbon infrastructures. Mobilizing local authorities is therefore essential, as is involving, if not forcing, AFCON's private players, starting with TotalEnergies.
Present in some 40 African countries, TotalEnergies, the event's title sponsor, has been accused by Greenpeace and other environmental NGOs of "greenwashing" to conceal the "climate bombs" generated by its oil and gas activities. For the time being, the company has not communicated any data on its actions. "None of the sponsors has responded" to Boraud's inquiries.
Raising awareness, measuring, anticipating... The work is laborious but essential for Côte d'Ivoire, a country already highly vulnerable to climate upheaval. Without drastic measures, 1.63 million Ivorians could fall into poverty by 2050 as a result of extreme weather alone, said the World Bank, which released a report that "estimates the cost of climate action at $22 billion or an annual average cost of about 2% of GDP."
It's not enough yet, but "the government's ambitions are laudable," admitted Yao. The country recently upgraded its climate action plan with the new aim of reducing its emissions by 30% by 2030, with 45% of its energy coming from renewable sources. In addition to investing in solar energy, among other things, the country is relying on technological advances to decarbonize its industry and its offshore oil field, "Whale," which is an abundant energy source and colossal financial windfall for the state. Although not triumphant and still in its infancy, the environmental issue has crept into this athletic competition, perhaps as a prelude to the political agenda.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.