This was originally an article that I wrote for InQuire Media, issue 17.5. Digital versions of the newspapers can be found at issuu.com/inquiremediagroup
Before the COP26 summit kicked off in Glasgow at the start of the month, various Olympic and Paralympic athletes recorded a video titled “Dear Leaders of the World” in which they called the summit “the Olympics of climate summits” and pleaded for world leaders to try their best to spark change in our habits, just as the athletes had tried their best in Tokyo earlier this year. The video was a nice message from some of the best world athletes, reminding us that the sporting sphere was just as committed to ecological change as everyone else.
And they have every reason to send the message they did. Sport is something that could become severely affected by climate change, with a rising global temperature and more extreme weather conditions that could have the potential to massively disrupt some sports and sports events in the future. On average we lose an entire football field's worth of tree cover every second, which leads to easier Co2 pollution. Even now, the consequences are beginning to show, with the Tokyo Olympics this summer going on record as the warmest ever games, and some major sporting games delayed, postponed or cancelled as a result of poor weather conditions such as storms, fires and floods.
So, what can the world of sport do in order to bring about improvement?
Well, us fans can start doing simple little things that will make a big step towards a greener game. For example, we can reduce paper waste by switching to mobile tickets and programmes, or make the effort to walk or cycle to a game instead of a car or public transport, if possible. Litter and waste left behind after games is, well, wasteful, and fans could make more effort to recycle their waste items before they leave. In 2019 football team Watford brought in reusable pint glasses that were collected at the end of the match and reused in the future, reducing waste.
Clubs and teams that sell meat products at their stadiums such as burgers could opt to include meat-free options, as imports of meats like beef and lamb produce large amounts of greenhouse gases. Furthermore they could look into introducing more sustainable clothing products, as production and distribution of fashion and clothing items accounts for a large proportion of carbon emissions in sport. More and more sports teams are releasing environmentally sustainable kits, not just in the UK but the rest of the world. Rugby Union is a great example, with a big majority of teams sporting sustainable jerseys. Furthermore, we can make do with kit we already own and could potentially mend and repair, rather than
Sports teams undoubtedly will want to remain as eco-friendly as possible, and have made steps to lower their carbon footprint. Though, none have done it as much as one English football club.
Forest Grren Rovers, who play in the fourth tier of the English football league, are described by FIFA as the ‘greenest football club in the world’ and are the only football club in the world to receive carbon neutrality status by the United Nations. The club is powered solely by renewable energy, using solar powered robots to cut their stadium’s pitch, and recycled rainwater to water it. They became the first vegan football club in 2015, serving only vegan food to fans, players and staff, and their past kits have been made from bamboo and recycled coffee grounds.
Forest Green serves as a shining example that more can be done in football to cut carbon emissions, and the club have endless green plans for the future, including a stadium made entirely out of timber wood.
Not only that, they also serve as an inspiration for other teams to follow in their footsteps. Teams like Seattle Sounders in America and Real Betis in Spain have pledged their commitment to becoming carbon neutral, signing onto the Sport and Climate Action Framework, an agreement created by the UN a few years ago, with participating teams being urged to report their greenhouse gas emissions in order to stay on the carbon neutrality track and reduce global temperatures.
This year, COP26 ran a competition before the summit called ‘CUP26’ in which they asked for football fans from 49 English football clubs to perform green tasks, such as walking the length of 50 football pitches or eating a meat-free meal in order to score ‘goals’ for their team. The Premier League also held it’s very first net-zero football match in September in association with Sky 0 and COP26, with Chelsea facing Tottenham Hotspur. The two teams arrived on sustainably fueled coaches and the game was powered on renewable sources.
The yearly COP conference is a good reminder of the actions that are being carried out by sports teams all around the world, as well as further stressing the steps we can take to improve. It just goes to show that sport can easily and effectively play it’s part in the overall world goal of fewer carbon emissions and a greener planet, and of course, so we can continue to enjoy sport as normal.