How A Cricket Match Got Aramco Tangled In India’s Air Pollution Debate

Earlier this month, the 2023 Cricket World Cup – a signature event for a sport that’s popular largely around the British Commonwealth of Nations – came to a somewhat familiar conclusion.

Australia won it for a record sixth time beating hosts India, a cricket-obsessed nation and the game’s economic powerhouse by every financial metric imaginable. Whether its broadcasting rights, sponsorships, advertising revenue or ticket sales (especially for the home team), India’s market clout in the game is visible in plain sight.

And those who follow the sport may probably allege political connections alongside that financial clout too. For instance, the Secretary for the Board of Cricket Control in India (Jay Shah) also just happens to the son of the country’s Home Minister (Amit Shah) hailing from the dominant force in Indian politics – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

By the time the 45-day circus finally left town on Sunday (November 19, 2023), having lasted a full two weeks longer than the 2022 Football (or Soccer if you wish) World Cup – it had become more about enduring the tournament rather than enjoying it for a multitude of things best explained by sports writers.

One unmistakable thing to endure that transcended cricket was the high level of air pollution and smog at many of the match venues around the country. It all came to a head in the lead up to, and during, a group game in the nation’s capital Delhi.

Ahead of a clash between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on November 6, Delhi’s air quality came into sharp focus and was described by multiple national and international observers as hazardous. Just a couple of days before matchday, the air quality index (AQI) in the city – which often ranks among the most polluted ones in the world and is home to 32 million people – came in at 411.

The reading exceeded World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines against outdoor activities in AQI levels of 300 and over. What’s worse, certain parts of Delhi registered an AQI of over 500 – the maximum range of the index and more than 10 times the limit deemed acceptable by the WHO on the eve of the match. For context, that same day London had an AQI of 19.

Both Team Sri Lanka and Bangladesh expressed concern. Embarrassed into action, with the cricketing world’s eyes on it, Delhi’s local government closed some educational institutions, banned non-essential construction and demolition work, as well as the entry of diesel vehicles into the city ahead of the game.

Additional water sprinklers were put around the Arun Jaitley Stadium – venue of the match, while air purifiers were installed in areas used by the players and match officials.

But despite mitigation measures, the haze and smog around the stadium just didn’t relent. It prompted both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to cancel their pre-match training sessions. Players who did train the day before the game, did so in masks.

But the match did go ahead on November 6 in the smog. That’s after a pulmonologist called upon to assess the situation deemed that the AQI had “reduced to levels considered acceptable” following 24 hours of assessment. With so much at stake, few doubted it would be stopped on health or air pollution grounds.

The Indian sporting frenzy fueled juggernaut will likely net its organizers the International Cricket Council (ICC) around $150 million. The tournament’s list of 20 sponsors and partners included a veritable who’s who of domestic as well as international commerce.

However, one name among the many got dragged into India’s air pollution debate more than most following the events of November 6 – Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil and gas behemoth and the world’s second-largest company by revenue Aramco.

The company is the global poster bearer for Saudi Arabia’s over 9 million barrels per day (bpd) in crude production. North of two-thirds of the barrels produced are exported by Aramco. The company also happens to be India’s third-largest crude oil supplier, currently exporting around 500,000 bpd to its shores.

Media reports suggest the Modi administration is seeking Aramco’s participation in further developing its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) base to rival that of the U.S. and China. As a result, Aramco unwittingly found itself in the firing line of environmentalists who have long been campaigning for cleaner air in India.

The problem is not limited to Delhi alone with India’s commercial capital Mumbai also recording poor AQI scores, though nothing on the scale of the dire readings seen in the capital. Several non-governmental health and environmental organizations in India flagged concerns about the direct connection between poor AQI and poor health during the tournament.

With cancers, heart and lung disease, and poor infant health linked by these organizations to air pollution in the country, many questioned why a sporting event adored by millions was being sponsored by a hydrocarbon producer.

No such thing as bad publicity (or sponsorship)

ClientEarth, an environmental law charity, and Carbon Tracker, a think-tank researching the impact of climate change on financial markets and the global economy say “Aramco is the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter.” ClientEarth estimates it to be responsible for over 4% of the entire world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions since 1965.

Caught in the tussle between the environmentalists and backers of India’s, and world cricket’s, biggest sporting extravaganza, Aramco came out swinging. “We recognize the scale and urgency of the climate challenge. It is our ambition to achieve net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions across our wholly-owned operated assets by 2050. Aramco also has one of the lowest upstream (oil and gas production) carbon footprints in the industry”.

Of course, one thing must be pointed out – among the 20 ICC sponsors and partners also happen to be an airline, a tyre manufacturer, a ports operator, drinks giants and more. So why blame an oil and gas giant for paying to attend the party being held in a very important client nation.

Even if every single one of ICC’s sponsors is taken off the board, it is doubtful that pollution levels in India in general, and Delhi in particular, will get any less (or more) attention. Or that there will be a magic wand solution to the problem.

Put it this way, alcohol advertising was banned in India in 2020. Since then, alcohol consumption has rise by 55% and will likely hit a level of about 6.21 billion liters by 2024. Its similarly doubtful whether castigating Aramco for sponsoring a cricket match will suddenly make the residents of Delhi ditch their scooters, mopeds, cars, vans and buses of all makes and sizes, and refrain from navigating the city’s chaotic traffic and toxic air.