#Morethanfootball Environmental Sustainability Focus Day
Celebrating the first of the 2019 #Morethanfootball Action Weeks Focus Days, we are looking at the various ways that professional football is becoming more environmentally sustainable and working towards fighting the various critical environmental challenges that the world is currently facing. With the growing awareness of key issues such as climate change, ocean plastic, air pollution, deforestation and loss of biodiversity and many more, there is growing pressure for and a growing will from all organisations, not just in football, to reduce their environmental impact and operate sustainably.
The importance of dealing with these environmental risks can be seen in the UN Sustainability Goals where all of the SDG’s can be attributed to environmental sustainability in one way or another and as much as 7 of them have a direct impact or can be directly impacted by the environment (Sustainable Development goals 7 – affordable and clean energy, 9 – Industry, Infrastructure and innovation, 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, 13 – Climate Action, 14 – Life below water, 15 – Life on land).
Football, therefore, with its global popularity and the unique position it has in society can play an important part in addressing and raising awareness of a number of these issues and solutions.
Further, with this increased focus on, and understanding of, these environmental issues and risks, it brings opportunities in the form of a strong business case for organisations to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. This can translate to football clubs and organisations with benefits such as improving the cost / operational efficiencies of their operations; increasing supporter engagement; creating new opportunities for sponsorships and partnerships; motivating, attracting and retaining staff; as well as contributing to minimising environmental impacts which could have direct impacts on football clubs and organisations.
Whether for ethical or commercial reasons, likely a combination of both, we are seeing more and more football clubs and organisations embracing sustainability with a variety of different activities and strategies.
Forest Green Rovers, currently in England’s league 2 have received a lot of recognition for their environmental and sustainability work, having been named the “greenest football club in the world” by FIFA after signing up for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiative called “Climate Neutral Now” and becoming the first UN certified carbon neutral football club. To achieve this, Forest Green have made sustainability central to their operations with their work including installing solar panels and electric vehicle charging points at their stadium, an entirely vegan matchday menu, capturing rainwater and recycling it to water their pitch (which is also organic and cut by a solar-powered robotic lawnmower using GPS). They are also in the process of building a new stadium made almost entirely from wood and have an eco-trail which can educate supporters and children on sustainability.
Forest Green are not the only club who are doing great work in this area, however, and a number of clubs and organisations are conducting a host of different work. Vfl Wolfsburg produces a comprehensive CSR Report which provides details on their work in improving the energy efficiency of their stadium and overall operations, waste management, removing single-use plastic from the stadiums by using compostable bags and cups and being part of a local mug hire and return scheme among other things. Real Betis have become the first La Liga club to sign up to the UNFCCC’s ‘Climate Neutral Now’ initiative in order to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and compensate for the rest, while Arsenal have positioned themselves as leaders of sustainability in the Premier League with the Emirates becoming the first stadium in the league to be powered by 100% renewable energy and running a tree planting initiative which included first team players Aaron Ramsey, Hector Belerin and Petr Cech helping plant 100 trees at their training ground.
We are seeing more and more stadiums such as the Johan Cruijff ArenA (Ajax), Signal Iduna Park (Dortmund), Antalya Arena (Antalyaspor), Allianz Riviera (OGC Nice) and Weser Stadion (Werder Bremen) having solar panels installed on the roof for powering the stadium.
Other examples of the excellent work being done by clubs and organisations include initiatives like Parley x Adidas raising awareness of the ocean plastic issue by, amongst other things, making the match day jerseys of Juventus, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Bayern Munich entirely from recycled ocean plastic. While the 14 national jerseys manufactured by Nike for the Women’s World Cup this Summer are made from at least 12 recycled plastic bottles each shirt. There is also an increasing number of clubs now using energy efficient LED lighting in stadiums and there is an increasing list of clubs and organisations achieving, or aiming to achieve, ISO 20121 Sustainable Event Management Certification with even the 2016 UEFA European Championships in France achieving certification.
The above are just some examples of the excellent work currently being done in the field of environmental sustainability in football and there is a lot more being done and more which can be done in football to minimise the environmental impact of the sport, raise awareness and engage with fans and ultimately show again how football really is #Morethanfootball.
