EURO 2024 teams can slash their emissions by 60% if they cut out flying, NGO says

Germany is aiming to make the EURO 2024 football tournament the greenest ever but its ambitions could be higher if national teams just played ball and cut out flying, according to Transport & Environment (T&E). 

National teams could slash their emissions by 60 per cent if they opt out of flying and choose to travel by train or coach, an analysis by the umbrella organisation representing NGOs promoting sustainable travel found.

Unfortunately, no team besides Germany, Portugal, and Switzerland has yet to make such a pledge. 

"UEFA and the hosts Germany have put a lot of effort into cutting transport emissions around the tournament, making it the greenest championships ever. This shows what can be done," Erin Vera, T&E's Travel Smart Campaigner, said in a statement.

"Disappointingly the national teams are so far failing to lead by example. If teams chose to avoid taking the plane for journeys that could reasonably be taken by train or coach, they can drastically slash their emissions," she added.

The month-long tournament will see 24 teams and some of the world's top players including England's captain Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappé, the French captain, battle it out across 10 German cities.

Both players, however, could pollute seven to nine times more through their transport emissions alone during the tournament than what the average person emits over a whole month if their teams - which are among the favourites to lift the trophy - travel by plane, according to T&E.

Mbappé and the France team will have their basecamp at Paderborn, a city in western Germany located a six-hour train ride from Paris. The team's group stage matches will take place in Düsseldorf, Leipzig and Dortmund, respectively located less than two hours, four