Fans Flocked to World Cup Host Cities—Causing 80 Percent of the Tournament’s Emissions

Cambridge researchers proposed a climate-viability framework for mega-events and tested it on the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Coldplay’s 2024 European tour.

They estimated the World Cup would produce about 4.23 million metric tons of CO2e, with 82% coming from fan travel.

For Coldplay’s tour, low-carbon travel incentives and related measures could nearly halve emissions.

The study found both events’ economic benefits currently outweigh their climate costs, though the World Cup result could change if the social cost of carbon is higher.