The Green Block’s Post

"𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐥" is the latest report published by the 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 - a guidance and recommendations report to create a pathway for European sport to meet the Green Deal goals. The report result is a comprehensive analysis and a set of recommendations that policymakers and sport practitioners should apply to achieve greater environmental sustainability in and through sport. In particular, Member States are: 🔶 Invited to develop national sustainable sport strategies 🔶 Advised to make public funding to sport national governing bodies conditional on the delivery of sustainability objectives. While sports organisations are called upon to: 🔶 Establish a baseline carbon footprint for their sports 🔶 Come up with environmental sustainability plans as part of the development strategy for their sports. The report also provides a more detailed analysis on the challenges and opportunities for the sport world and discusses stakeholders role to address environmental issues, along with practical guidance, resources, and case studies seeking to support sport practitioners. The full report entitled "Sport's contribution to the European Green Deal. A sport sector playbook' is available in English in the link in comment #europeangreendeal #greensport

Last week Sports Environment Alliance (SEA) hosted the fifth webinar in its #BeyondtheSummit Webinar Series, with this one focused on 'What does implementing a broader ESG strategy mean for sport?' Attendees heard three of SEA’s members discuss what their approach has been to embedding ESG in their respective organisations. Tanya Gamble, Corporate Social Responsibility Manger at Netball Victoria spoke about Netball Victoria's journey to date, including the focus on ‘boys in netball’ and accessibility to netball. Rita Nehme, Head of Sustainability at Richmond Football Club discussed how Richmond Football Club is integrating sustainable practices, social responsibility and ethical governance across the club, including their carbon targets, their work with SisterWorks Inc. and their commitment to continually delivering a best practice Reconciliation Action Plan. Finally, Adam Luscombe, General Manager at SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre (SAALC) presented a roadmap on integrating ESG across SAALC. This included the environmental wins, and also the important social elements such as work with the homeless and the provision of period products to ensure women and girls always feel able to participate in activities at SAALC. Some key learnings from the webinar included: • Identify partners to work with to achieve greater social and environmental impact with the upcycling, reuse and repurpose of unwanted products (think broadly – this may be a local social enterprise) • Communicate with your audiences to inform them about your plans, collaborate with like-minded partners, empower your members to take action and network for success • Involve the whole organisation; this may include setting up a Green Action team, where you can develop an action plan and set priorities to guide your activities and decision-making • Identify the changes you want to see, set goals and then measure your social and environmental impacts. “Be the change you want to see.” Join us at our next webinar - How to design and implement best practice sustainability into sporting events on Thursday, 17 October, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm https://lnkd.in/geDJdcF9 #SEA_theChange #noplanetnoplay

The European Commission prepared the the report on ♻️ eco-friendly sports practices. The aim of this practical playbook to foster green 🌲 and sustainable sports. Read more 👉 https://lnkd.in/e_JCvK85 #EUGreenDeal

What's your favorite sustainable sports initiative? 🌿 Share your thoughts in the comments below! Let's celebrate and promote the amazing projects and organizations that are making a positive impact on the intersection of sports and sustainability. Together, we can drive change! 🌍🤝 #SustainableSports

Grassroots sport organisations may lack the capacity to enhance their events in terms of environmental sustainability 🌲. ⁠ ⁠ Because youth 👦🏼👧🏿 is a relevant stakeholder and a valuable resource in sports organisations, however they are often not empowered to take action or lack the resources to do so. ⁠ ⁠ Our document on environmental sustainability puts forward guidelines and discussion points to trigger good practices and offer recommendations for young sport leaders to implement preventive and reactive environmentally sustainable actions linked to sport and outdoor activities 🌳 https://shorturl.at/ghIR8⁠ ⁠ #SustainableDevelopment ⁠

Top-flight English football clubs are more active than ever in sustainability, earning praise for their green initiatives. However, the Premier League itself faces criticism for a "lack of moral leadership." 🌍💚⚽️ A new report from Sport Positive Leagues highlights the significant progress clubs have made in reducing their environmental impact. Claire Poole, the founder, notes that over the past five years, clubs have increasingly prioritised sustainability. Here are some impressive stats: 🌿 16 clubs now have dedicated sustainability pages on their websites. ♻️ 6 clubs have set net zero carbon targets. 🚗 Players are featured in videos promoting recycling, electric vehicles, and plant-based diets.   The 2024 report showcases even more achievements: 🌟 3 clubs with externally accredited environmental efforts. 🌐 5 clubs participating in the UN's Sports for Climate Action. 🌞 6 clubs generating clean energy on-site 🚉 7 clubs implementing sustainable transport policies. Despite these strides, the Premier League has been criticized for its slow progress on its own sustainability strategy, with no published plan in two and a half years. Concerns also arise from the use of domestic flights and organizing pre-season tours in the US, contributing to significant emissions. ✈️🌍 Wycombe Wanderers midfielder David Wheeler expressed frustration over the delay, calling for leadership and actionable changes, such as capping domestic flights to reduce emissions. 💬🔥 As clubs make commendable efforts, the Premier League is urged to step up and lead by example in the fight against climate change. 🌍⚽✨

Sports venue sustainability is not one size fits all but in today’s day and age, integrating sustainability into your facility cannot be ignored. 🌱🏟 Learn ways to authentically incorporate sustainability into your sports facility: https://bit.ly/3JCtAb9

2023/24 has been a transformative year for us at Pledgeball. As an evidence-based charity, we’ve worked tirelessly to inspire attitudinal shift and pro-environmental behavioural change within the global sports community. From football to tennis, biathlon to rugby, our mission is clear: to use our love of sport to beat the odds. 🤝 Our Reach 🌍 ▶️ Reached 6.2 million+ sports fans with sustainability messaging ▶️ Fans from 180+ clubs pledged to reduce their carbon emissions ▶️ Achieved 144,781 pledges — a 38% increase from 2023 ▶️ Together, these pledges are equivalent to taking 13,600+ cars off the road annually Our Impact 🙌 We work with leading academic researchers to assess impact and inform strategy. These insights from our research highlight the real-world impact of our efforts: ▶️ ‘engagement with Pledgeball makes fans....re-evaluate their role in tackling climate change resulting in further engagement with the topic.’ ▶️ ‘Fans are more likely to adjust their daily consumption habits in response to their club’s involvement in Pledgeball.’ ▶️ ‘Individuals who pledged reported having more frequent conversations about climate change’ Sustainable Travel Charter 🚆 Developed with EFL clubs and the FSA with the aim of reducing the number of domestic flights taken by clubs ▶️ 6 pioneering clubs signed on October 2023 ▶️ To date, 9 EFL clubs signed up Champions Innovate Pledge League 🏆 In partnership with Mastercard and featuring Gareth Bale as our spokesperson, we launched the Champions Innovate Pledge League, amplifying our message across Europe. We also worked with the brilliant researcher Jesse Wise to create a paper assessing the impact of this campaign. Conferences & Workshops 🎤 This year, we shared our insights at 10+ conferences and workshops, including hosting our first Fan Engagement on Climate & Sustainability workshop. Some key events we spoke at: ▶️ Sport Positive Summit ▶️ European Football for Development Network ▶️ London Climate Action Week To learn more about our work and impact over the past year, read our 2023/24 Impact Report below! ⬇️ #ProtectWhereWePlay

What a great initiative by Sport Positive in creating a heathly competition “League” among football clubs in their progress towards environmental sustainability! Well done Claire Poole ! Should we create such a League across industries? Among banks? Large retailers? Hotels? Airlines? … Would love to hear your view. Pls share with me you suggestions in comments. #sustainability #esg #premierleague #sportpositive

Is This The World's Greenest Sports Club? Forest Green Rovers, a small football club based in Gloucestershire began its journey to becoming the world’s first carbon neutral club in 2010. It is now described by FIFA as “the world's greenest football club”. A great achievement when you consider the recent US billionaire buyouts and sovereign wealth funds entering the top tier of English Football. It’s the small league two club who are the upstanding example of sustainability. They are showing the sporting world how to run a football club with integrity, green-fingered responsibility, and with wider society in mind. Some of their key implementations include; 👉Sustainable football kits made from recycled plastic and coffee waste. 👉All-Vegan food on matchdays replacing meat pies with ‘Quorn & Leek’ pies.  👉World’s first timber stadium that allows local wildlife to flourish. 👉Fully powered by renewables using electric team buses. 👉Carbon offsetting home and away day ticketing. Locally, the team spreads the word about sustainability through its Ambassador Scheme, which provides a valuable link between the club and local schools. And attention from the media has brought an increasing number of visitors to the area benefiting local business. Fans are now replicating their team’s green vision by becoming vegan, buying electric cars, and living more sustainably. It is clear that Sports entities will need to implement an environmental, social and governance strategy (ESG) in 2024 in order to stay ahead. Because sports clubs remain a huge driver of local sustainability efforts with their large platforms and wider influence. Their ability to promote a green economy is crucial for wide-scale adoption. In fact studies have shown that entities with a strong ESG strategy have better business performance with higher financial returns and less risk. And because of Forest Green other clubs are now taking note. Which is a positive for Sports and local communities. Kudos Dale Vince for leading the way. #sustainability #esgstrategy #sportbusiness #climatechange #greeneconomy