Brazil's state-owned bank Caixa Econômica Federal will supply carbon credits to compensate for the emissions of the country's men's football team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The credits support the Brazilian Football Confederation's Carbon Neutral Team strategy, delivered in partnership with the Von Bohlen Halbach Climate Institute.
The credits come from a programme of activities registered with the UN since 2012, generated through emission reductions at the Rio Waste Treatment Centre in Seropédica, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The landfill was developed to replace the former Gramacho dump and receives waste from Rio and surrounding municipalities. 'The initiative contributes to the environmentally sound management of waste and to the reduction of the impacts of climate change', Caixa said in a LinkedIn post. Neither the volume of credits nor the transaction value has been disclosed.
The move arrives against a backdrop of rising scrutiny of football's environmental footprint. FIFA's Climate Blind Spot, a report from the New Weather Institute, projects that the tournament could generate over 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) — comparable to the annual emissions of Luxembourg, Cyprus, or Latvia. Separate research from Loughborough University, the University of Bristol, and the University of Manchester argues that football's growth imperative makes sustainability initiatives inherently limited, linking rising emissions to competition expansion and fossil-fuel sponsorship.
Tournament expansion sits at the centre of the projection. The 2026 edition features 48 teams and 104 matches across 16 host cities spanning the United States, Canada, and Mexico — a 47% increase in games compared with the previous edition. Air travel across the three host countries is expected to be the dominant source of emissions.
The environmental risks run in both directions. A climate risk assessment for the tournament found that 14 of the 16 host stadiums may require cooling breaks by 2050, and research by World Weather Attribution indicates around one-quarter of scheduled matches could face heat above safety thresholds set by FIFPRO, the global players' union. Miami emerged as one of the most exposed venues.
Sustainability responses across the sport now include renewable energy at stadiums, sustainable venue design, and low-carbon transport initiatives. Aviation remains one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, and travel-related emissions are expected to remain the central challenge for future World Cups. Compensation via verified carbon credits, as in Brazil's approach, offers one route to address the emissions that cannot yet be avoided.