Climate emergency | The Grand Prix in the pillory

After two years of absence due to a pandemic, the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix to Montreal is not only making people happy. Several environmental groups are outright calling for an end to this type of event in the context of a climate emergency. Explanations.

Eric-Pierre Champagne
The Press

A petition to end the Grand Prix

Former Cowboys Fringants drummer Dominique Lebeau launched a petition on Monday to end the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Montreal. Supported by several environmental groups, including Mères au front, the Montreal Climate Coalition, the Rivières Foundation, Environnement Jeunesse and the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment, he is asking that the event “no longer take place in Montreal, Quebec or in Canada”. “We simply can’t believe that in 2022, in the midst of the climate crisis, there are still events like the Canadian Grand Prix that are presented”, can we read in particular on the site change.org, where 2732 people had signed the petition by the end of the day Thursday.

“We are aware of that and we will work on it”

“I think that’s the extreme. The Grand Prix is ​​the most important tourist sporting event in Canada. 56% of our clientele comes from outside Quebec, so it’s really new money coming into Montreal, “said François Dumontier, boss of the Grand Prix du Canada, in response to the groups on Thursday. who want the event to end. “Particularly post-pandemic, I think we will contribute to part of the economic recovery of downtown Montreal. F1 and promoters around the world, we are aware that we have a job to do. And we started it, this work. Since 2014, we have hybrid engines. There may have been a lack of communication on this, but we have set ourselves the goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. It doesn’t happen overnight. These are stages that we will go through. Sometimes, these are small gestures, but we are aware of that and we will work on it. »

256,551 tons

According to figures released in 2019, the entire F1 circuit releases the equivalent of 256,551 tonnes of greenhouse gases (GHG) annually, the equivalent of around 105,000 cars or 450 Montreal-Paris flights. The majority of GHGs are released not during the races, but during the movement of the teams and equipment in the various countries where the competitions are held. However, these figures do not take into account the carbon impact of tourism associated with the various races. This would be estimated at 1.64 million tonnes of CO₂ per year. F1 committed in 2019 to be carbon neutral by 2030.

Fighting fossil fuels

According to the D^D Claudel Pétrin-Desrosiers, president of the Quebec Association of Physicians for the Environment (AQME), “we must be consistent in a context of climate crisis”. “This discussion has its place [sur la pertinence du Grand Prix] in the actual context. An event that serves to burn gas all weekend long is an extravagance that no longer has its place,” she adds. Support for the petition The Grand Prize: no thank you! was self-evident, also specifies the family doctor, since the AQME supports a campaign which aims to ban advertisements on fossil fuels. Beyond F1’s GHG report, “there is the symbol behind that, even if the emissions of a Grand Prix are minimal compared to those of the car trips of the population”.

Carbon and professional sport

Formula 1 is far from the only professional sport that is looking to restore its image in terms of environmental footprint. In a report released in 2019, the National Hockey League (NHL) indicated that team travel during the season released 1,430 tonnes of GHGs. The interruption of the regular season due to the pandemic in the spring of 2020 avoided 200 tonnes of GHGs. The league reports having a program to offset its emissions. Additionally, data from 2014 showed that the NHL produced the equivalent of 550,000 tonnes of carbon from all of its activities in one season.