The Race towards a Greener Event

The Singapore Grand Prix, one of the biggest and most anticipated events after being cancelled the past two years, will be held on 2nd October this year. It was also recently announced that Singapore will renew its Formula One deal until 2028, providing an opportunity for the economy and Singapore's tourism sector to recover. It's no surprise however that Formula One racing is one of the most pollutive forms of sport, raising concerns over the pollution levels in Singapore over the next 7 years. 

Singapore Grand Prix victory celebration in 2019.

Source: The Straits Times

As observed in the picture, a lot goes on during the (usually) 3-day-long event - fireworks, large crowds, road closures, light shows and more, all of which are sources of pollution. But perhaps the most pressing issue that has often been the focus of critics is the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2).  This article by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) also reveals the importance of thinking about F1 pollution through an interdisciplinary and multi-scalar approach, similar to the 'Phosphorus Transfer Continuum' described by Haygarth et al. (see diagram below). The CMI article revealed that CO2 emissions from the 2019 F1 races themselves contributed to a small percentage, 0.7%, of the overall sport's pollution. Meanwhile, global logistics operations and business travel accounted for 45% and 27.7% of carbon emissions respectively.  In other words, the pollutive effects from the vehicle exhaust of F1 cars cannot be viewed in isolation. We should also look at other processes involved in the event which contribute significantly to environmental degradation in order to assess the overall negative impacts. 

Source: Haygarth et al. (2005)

While this diagram focuses on a much smaller scale, looking at the transfer of Phosphorus pollutants, this model also illustrates how pollution is a process embedded within social and economic contexts. In the context of F1, the continuum can be applied to Carbon. Considering the popularity of this event every year, with it seeing some 268,000 spectators in Singapore in 2019, it is expected that this coming years' events will be just as grand, making it difficult to predict the environmental effects even though the F1 has goals of being net carbon zero by 2030.  

References: 

Gallagher, M. (2021, November 10). The climate race: Sustainability lessons from Formula One. CMI. https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-and-insights/article/the-climate-race-sustainability-lessons-from-formula-one/#:%7E:text=Surprising%20statistics,be%20256%2C551%20tonnes%20of%20CO2.

Haygarth et al. (2005) The phosphorus transfer continuum: Linking source to impact with an interdisciplinary and multi-scaled approach. Science of The Total Environment, 344: 5-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2005.02.001

Richards, G. (2021, November 26). Climate emergency accelerates F1’s efforts to clean up its image. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/nov/26/climate-emergency-accelerates-f1-efforts-to-clean-up-image

Wong, J. (2022, January 27). Singapore renews Formula One deal until 2028; this year’s night race to be held on Oct 2. The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/formula-one/formula-one-singapore-renews-deal-until-2028-this-years-night-race-on-oct-2