To think these sporting events should be banned?

[idontfeelgoodaboutthis]

My niece was at the formula one in Italy this weekend.

404,000 people attended, most of whom didn’t seem to be Italian from her words. She told me she bought “at least” ten bottles of water this weekend. 11 teams flying in, flying their drivers in by private jet, and then out again. 404,000 people making extra journeys that they didn’t need to make.

The impact on the environment must be awful. AIBU to think these events should be banned for the sake of the environment?

People are becoming very eager to ban everything. It's annoying.

YABU.

I assume you’ll be stopping using the internet then?

CO2 production to keep the internet and everything associated with it - 780 million tonnes/year

CO2 caused by F1 - 149,000 tonnes/year

I believe in climate change, but unless we ban all air travel (and even then, travel by boat isn't exactly eco friendly) I am not persuaded that banning international sport could make a meaningful difference. The answer is to keep working on decarbonisation of a) industry and b) air travel.

This argument that because things cost money they should be banned is hilarious. Money spent on anything goes back into the economy. It's only when money is retained by individuals, cooperatives or governments that there are problems.

When people complain that a space programme costs billions of dollars I think they actually believe that money is burnt as fuel, when actually it has created jobs and fuelled the economy. Yes, you could argue the money could be directed differently but that's a different argument.

Sorry, partial derail I know.

Obviously we should stop all of this if we want to continue as a species.

The problem is that everyone’s pet favourite thing is something that makes them want to continue as a species and without it they don’t really think life is worth living.

EVERYTHING should be ‘costed’ environmentally - the World Cup is by far the worst.

We live in a world that now needs to ‘cost’ everything environmentally or WE ALL DIE.

But people refuse to do it because we’re stupid as fuck and think capitalism is the best system 🤷‍♀️

The World Cup should now be held forever in Qatar as the stadiaii have now been belt and it’s a central hub in the world (obviously loads of political reasons why it shouldn’t be there).

but we’re fucking stupid and move this shit around every 4 years.

There are 2 things you can do as an individual, don’t go (obviously) and tell every politician you know and everyone you know that we’re all going to die if we don’t stop.

which is why I will now repeat WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE IF WE DON’T STOP 😂

It’s always banning things that they don’t personally care for. Nobody wants to give up any of the things that they enjoy, want or need. It’s always the stuff that someone else enjoys that is the problem.

I do not drive and only travel in a car (taxi or a lift from someone else) a handful of times a year. That doesn’t mean cars should be banned.

It irks me when people who live a much more carbon inefficient lifestyle day-to-day than I do, decide that it’s my one flight a year that is killing the planet. We all have to make our choices and try to reduce what we can, but you can’t expect everyone to have exactly the same priorities.

Some people don’t use cars, some give up meat, some don’t travel internationally, some avoid fast fashion, but very few people are willing or able to cut all of those things.

In F1 it's all spending capped so the richer teams can't spend more.

Almond milk is ruinous for the environment in terms of water.

Dog foods contributes 2.3–3.7% of UK food system greenhouse gas emissions.

The dogs in cafes, dogs in restaurants, dogs fucking everywhere, everyone has a dog or two is bad for the environment.

That isn't taking cats and other pets into account.

All want to give up your pets for the sake of the environment & put an end to pet ownership?

OMG the brainwashing is well and truly in place! Are you Trump, Farage or any other right wing climate denier?

Are you going to ban football too?

If you ban F1 you will be about as popular as Max Verstappen.

I think we need to ban the verbal hot air coming out of people's arses. So damaging for the environment.

We should be working towards making these events greener, not banning them completely. It sets a better example to everyone to do that, so they are inspired to do this themselves at home.

Why did she buy 10 bottles of water? They have water refill stations.

The drivers often share the private jets, not all of them have them.

The cars are now hybrid.

Of course F1 is never going to be as eco friendly as Formula E but you could say that about lots of things.

Football matches, Rugby matches, the Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the football and rugby world cups, cricket tests, the Ashes. Tennis events such as Wimbledon, the French Open, the US Open, the Australian Open. Ban them all and forget about anyone who's job and livelihoods depend on them.

Then big concert gigs etc. Tourist attractions in any major city (London is full of them). The list goes on. Ban them too, and stuff anyone who's jobs and livelihoods depend on them.

You say you do holiday in the UK but aren't specific about how you travel. Not fully environmentally friendly unless you walk or cycle there, which nobody does so you won't be believed if you claim to..

You don't deny holidaying abroad. "Tend not to" implies that you do sometimes but don't want to be specific about it because it would shoot your own argument here down.

Good example.

Many fans use public transport to get there and camp. Ok I've not been to Monza so I don't know the full details there but I've been to Silverstone and my daughter went to Zandvoort. It was instead of a holiday.

Love it when people know better than the scientific establishment!

I don't think it is about banning things, but making people aware of the environmental cost of their decisions. I think people are vaguely aware, but reason that their little effort to do something will make so little difference that it can be ignored. And that they want to do it so what the heck .......

It is that mindset that needs to change.

If everyone takes that view then we are literally doomed.

Sure it would be great if all companies and governments were fully in board with saving the planet, but until they are we have to do our bit.

Max is hugely popular, just not in the UK. I'm a fan.

As popular as Lance Stroll might have been a better example!

So do you ever take foreign holidays? Why not ban air flight altogether? Business meetings can be done via teams/zoom/facetime. Therefore the only travel is where experts have to see something in person to correct or cure it?

You could ban lots of stuff. World Cup/Football. Olympics. Any mass attended event.

F1 is moving towards being more sustainable, but they could do more.

I think there was something that all the fuel has to be green. They are also altering the calendar so less transport is required.

They could probably do more. At the moment it seems to me like it is more a half hearted attempt at being green rather than a full on try to make the sport more sustainable.

I think it is also worth noting that the majority of those people attending will be from the local area.

A quick google seems to imply an entire F1 weekend uses about as much fuel for the meeting as a single flight to Spain.

If that is true then the greater fuel is in the transport, and by extension travel as a whole has far more impact on the enviroment.

FFS. Don't talk so far back 😬

I absolutely loved going to Monza. YABU.

No but I think companies should have to decrease how much they fly for conferences and meetings

I couldn't agree more, but we'll be shouted down. I believe flying should only be for absolutely essential trips, not entertainment or for holidays. We've reached a critical environmental point where drastic action needs to happen. We're fucked otherwise.

They generally do. Sending people out is expensive and also knocks people out for long periods as they recover from flights and jet lag.

No well run company is sending people out these days unless it is really necessary.

That means a lot of jollies that would have flown in the past are grounded.