Thanks to the organization of the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) and the FIFA, the world?s largest sporting event will promote energy, waste and water saving measures that will have local impact while setting examples far and wide.

Mexico?s goalkeeper coach Jorge Campos, who accompanied star goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez on the trip to Europe after the latter?s father died while preparing to attend the championship games, arrived with head coach Ricardo Antonio La Volpe. And Campos was not there just to play ball.

His other team, that of Wildcoast?s Defend the Sea campaign, was on the journey, too, carrying forward the effort to gather petition signatures for marine protected areas, which Campos champions.

Wildcoast?s petition calls for federal and state action to create an effective network of such areas, based on the model of sustainable fisheries established by a federation of nine lobster cooperatives on Mexico?s northwest coast of the Baja California Peninsula.

The Regional Federation of Cooperative Societies of the Baja California Fishing Industry (Fedecoop) was the first community fishery in the developing countries to receive international certification for sustainable management under the guidelines of the Marine Stewardship Council. Fedecoop?s representatives have since been invited to share their know-how with fishing groups up and down the coast.

They learned that they could duplicate their catch by limiting it to certain sizes of shellfish, to specific areas or zones, and to shorter time-spans, as well as by chipping in on the local enforcement of authorized fishing boats and crews. With the green label provided by certification, they have the potential to take advantage of new export markets in a competitive industry that is otherwise putting Mexican fishermen out of business.

THE ?GREEN GOAL?

Like Mexico, the other 31 countries in the soccer tourney are kicking in their share to reach what UNEP and FIFA are calling the ?Green Goal.? They want this to be the most environmentally friendly soccer tournament ever. The German Organizing Committee and the Oeko Institute are behind it.

A short film featuring the slogan ?World Champion for the Environment: We are working on it? premiered on giant screens at the pre-match warm-up and continues to show before each match. A ?climate neutral scheme? intends to offset the greenhouse gases of all the 100,000 tons of carbon dioxide generated within Germany by transportation, construction and maintenance of the soccer stadiums and the presence of 3.2 million spectators.

If you are wondering how this ambitious objective can be reached, the answer is in part a transportation plan that provides fans who opt for the so-called Kombi ticket to receive free, 24-hour public transit at the 12 World Cup venues. While that will cost the World Cup 2006 Organizing Committee some 2 million Euros, it is calculated to effectively reduce private vehicle use, a main cause of global warming.

Also, state-of-the-art energy management systems, such as the one installed in the Munich Arena, are expected to reduce electricity consumption up to 20 percent.

Waste should be cut by the ?cup of the Cup,? a reusable drinking cup for fans, which is the only one allowed on the grounds, and requires a one-Euro deposit. Some 300 volunteers are trained to raise awareness about this and other environmental measures.

Stadium roofs, such as the one at Berlin, are being used to harvest rainwater, and water saving restroom fixtures are in place.

While valid criticisms can be made, these are the kinds of things that can convince even the least soccer-oriented sports enthusiast to wave a flag and toot a horn. Win or lose, participants in this aspect of the games have made a contribution to conservation.

Talli Nauman is a founder and co-director of Journalism to Raise Environmental Awareness, a project initiated with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. (talli@hughes.net)