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After a period of intense collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam and the Urgenda Foundation the Amsterdam ArenA is proud to present today its state-of-the-art and integrated sustainability programme entitled ‘Sustainability comes naturally’.
Amsterdam ArenA, the home of the famous football club Ajax will play a lead role in sustainability in the city of Amsterdam. It is also a key venue in the HollandBelgium bid to host the FIFA World Cup, which aims to be the greenest World Cup competition in history.
Henk Markerink, General Manager of Amsterdam ArenA said: “We will make sure that by 2015 our balance of CO2 emissions is zero.
“With energy-saving measures that will pay for themselves in less than 10 years, our CO2 emissions will be halved. We will compensate for the remaining emissions with solar panels on our roof and our own wind turbine. We will also increasingly produce less waste and convert the remaining waste into raw materials. By working together with the communities around us we can reach a large group of people and multiply the effects of our sustainability efforts.”
Amsterdam Councillor for Climate and Energy, Maarten van Poelgeest said: “The ambition presented by the Amsterdam ArenA deserves a huge compliment, as it will enable the stadium to become a forerunner in Amsterdam when it comes to rendering an existing building sustainable.
“In many areas the Amsterdam ArenA already fulfils an iconic role for Amsterdam. As of today we can add a new one: a temple of innovation in the area of sustainability.”
Jan Rotmans, Chairman of the Urgenda Foundation which campaigns for sustainable development said: “The Amsterdam ArenA will become an icon of sustainability and will be the first football stadium in the world to achieve integrated sustainability. As a result it will make a significant contribution to the sustainability of the Netherlands and ultimately the world.”
Harry Been, CEO of The HollandBelgium Bid, the candidacy of the Netherlands and Belgium to hold the World Cup in 2018 said: “A FIFA World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands will be the greenest ever. Together with the compact nature of our candidacy due to short distances and travel times, sustainable stadiums will play an important role in making this possible.
“The green ambition of the Amsterdam ArenA to be carbon-neutral by 2015 fits in very well with our strategy. We wholeheartedly support this initiative, which allows football fans to enjoy the game in green stadiums such as this one.”
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