The FIS pulls through, calls itself climate positive, despite criticism and without evidence. Hardly any substance remains behind the big words.
“The FIS celebrates its second season as a climate-positive sport”, reads above a post on the International Ski and Snowboard Federation website published on Wednesday evening (11/23/2022). She did it thanks to her own rainforest initiative, which she announced a year ago.
The initiative will prevent deforestation, which corresponds to a multiple of the calculated CO2 emissions of all FIS competitions, writes the FIS. So the association not only calls itself climate-neutral, but also climate-positive.
“dubious plans”
It is undisputed that the rainforest is of immense importance for the global climate. Protecting it is therefore a good and important thing, said Jörg Sommer, chairman of the German Environmental Foundation. However, using this protection for compensation would be dubious.
“It’s completely weird when you use the refusal to cut down rainforest to calculate your own CO2 emissions,” said Sommer in November 2021 in an interview with Sportschau. “This means that something that takes place in the ski circus in Austria, for example, is in no way better for the climate.”
Compensation through deforestation protection?
Is it legitimate to use deforestation protection as compensation? The sports show asked the two largest companies that certify projects. The Gold Standard, which is considered demanding, replied that it considered carbon credits to be “No suitable mechanism for avoiding deforestation at project level, especially since legal questions also remained open”.
The most common Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), on the other hand, writes that it is quite common and necessary to use such projects for CO2 offsetting. Because the deforestation of the rainforest causes about 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions trading has proven to be particularly effective.
Fundamental criticism of compensation models
Many environmental organizations fundamentally reject climate compensation, since the actual impact of projects is difficult to calculate and compensation enables so-called greenwashing. Companies, associations and private individuals can give themselves a green image without actually having to reduce their CO2 emissions.
All counter-arguments seem to roll off Johan Eliasch. The fact that he is going through the climate positive plan without making any adjustments fits the image that the many critics paint of the FIS President. He is stubborn and resistant to advice.
The FIS does not give any figures, no contact persons and does not reveal whether the FIS Rainforest Initiative has been certified. A corresponding request from the sports show remained unanswered.
Elijah’s dual role
The role of the organization Cool Earth, from which the FIS takes advice, remains all the more doubtful. “Cool Earth has helped us meet our goal of becoming carbon positive by 2022 on time”, the FIS wrote to the sports show a year ago. However, Cool Earth clarifies on its website: “Protecting the rainforest with Cool Earth does not create a carbon offset.”
Among other things, the organization supports the Ashaninka tribe in Peru, which the FIS now also names as a cooperation partner. To what extent do the Ashaninka benefit from the new FIS rainforest initiative? How much money flows between FIS and Cool Earth? All this remains unclear, cannot be controlled and has an aftertaste. Because Eliasch is not only FIS President, but also co-founder and chairman of Cool Earth.
Rising temperatures as a threat to existence
There are also understandable sentences in the most recent FIS message. “I think we’ve all experienced first-hand how rising temperatures are affecting not only the climate but also our ability to compete,” Elijah is quoted. The season started with several weather-related cancellations, including the newly introduced glacier descent on the Matterhorn. Skiing is existentially dependent on temperatures not rising too much.
That is why it must remain an obligation to be climate-positive, Eliasch continues. Jörg Sommer from the German Environmental Foundation sees it differently. “Winter sport is not climate-positive, it never will be, and it doesn’t have to be, by the way. He just has to honestly struggle to become more climate-friendly. The bigger and more full-bodied the marketing slogans are, the less there is usually behind them.”
CO2 emissions are to be halved
After all, the climate positive farce is only part of a plan. The FIS aims to halve its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. And it wants to reward organizers who have made the greatest progress in CO2 savings within a season.
Eliasch’s consistent expansion plans are likely to be a hindrance. He wants more World Cups and competitions on more continents. This season, the Alpine World Cup entourage is traveling to North America twice instead of once. The FIS wants to go to China more often and has even discovered the Arabian Peninsula for itself.
Dubai and maybe Saudi Arabia?
There she has been organizing competitions in Dubai’s ski hall since 2021 and has other indoor slopes in the region in mind. In a statement, she dreams of a possible tour with snowboard and freeski events, “which might lead to the coronation of the king and queen of the desert snow”.
Another possible venue: Trojena in Saudi Arabia. The Asian Winter Games are to take place in the bone-dry mountains there in 2029. Currently there is only dust and stones there, but a futuristic and luxurious winter sports and recreation center is to be built shortly.
Eliash: “Why not?”
While the majority of the winter sports world reacted in amazement, also because of the devastating human rights situation and the exploitation of guest workers in Saudi Arabia, Eliasch seems impressed. He could only welcome countries that invest in our sport, he told the NZZ. “If Saudi Arabia can do this in a climate-neutral manner, as announced – why not?”
Trojena has a sustainable image with 100 percent renewable energy – despite the extremely complex construction phase and the energy-intensive desalination of vast amounts of seawater. So when it comes to greenwashing, Saudi Arabia is on the same wavelength as the FIS.