Bert, Brazil, licensing and more
Round-up #40
It’s a proper full-on round-up this one. The usual fortnightly flow of them was temporarily put aside for posts on FIFA’s Climate Strategy and the floods in Spain. So this post has news and developments from the past four weeks or so. As ever, I hope you find some useful ideas, insights or analysis to spark further action.
Quick section links: Storm Bert, More on grassroots football, In Brazil, Spain. Floods and Football, Licensing, Top insights, Arsenal and Science-Based Targets, Club focus, FIFA, Welcome!, Football Governance Bill, In other news, EURO 2024 ESG Report.
Fran
Storm Bert
Earlier this month ITV News looked at How the changing climate and extreme weather is threatening grassroots football. And at the start of last week, former footballer Jimmy Bullard visited Leatherhead FC to talk about climate change and it's effects on grassroots football.
By the end of the week, we had a viral video of Lydney Town players playing water polo on their pitch as Storm Bert hit the UK and Ireland. The BBC reported that Lydney Town is now “desperately worried about the finances of the club because they need to host football to keep going”. The director of football Neil Hook has said the club "may not survive this … It's devastating to be honest."
Elsewhere, Storm Bert’s effects were felt throughout the football pyramid. This included the postponement of a Championship game, Blackburn vs Portsmouth, significant damage to the Newquay AFC stadium, and a call out from the South West Peninsula League, saying: “The FA need to invest far more effort in helping small clubs through this.”
In response to the floods, Sport England said they would “prioritise support from our Movement Fund for sports and activities that need help to recover quickly”, though this fund is for sports other than football. In previous years the Football Foundation has sometimes provided support to clubs following storms though that appears not to be the case in this instance.
More on grassroots football
The Football Association of England launched a new Grassroots Strategy earlier in the month. It includes mention of a focus on environmental sustainability through: guidance and support; equipping facility providers; and facilitating renewable energy. There’s no further detail at present. It will be interesting to see what more and/or different actions and funding this all leads to in practice. Elsewhere, the strategy also says “fewer games are being postponed due to adverse weather”, though no figures are provided.
Following this launch, The FA has also provided more details of its ‘Greener Game’ partnership with E.ON Next. It’s set to complete 200 energy audits and invest £1.5 million annually benefiting around 75-100 clubs each year, with guidance provided to many more (The FA covers around 18,000 clubs outside of the professional game). It’s not clear how this work sits alongside the funding the FA already provides to the Football Foundation for initiatives including energy support, or how far this all goes to meet overall demand. The recent EURO 2024 Climate Fund suggests there is a large untapped demand from clubs to do more if the right financial support is there (see EURO 2024 ESG Report below).
Separately, the UK Parliament Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has announced an inquiry into “the health of sport in local communities and schools”. It will include looking at ‘What is the current quality and availability of facilities for grassroots sport?’ And elsewhere, the Birmingham County FA, with Manchester Metropolitan University, is running an accredited course in January on Carbon Literacy for Grassroots Football.
In Brazil
A new, well researched, report “The impact of climate change on football in Brazil” says that 85% of clubs in the Brazilian Série A are at a high risk of climate-related extreme weather impacts: “Climate change is not a distant threat but a present reality impacting Brazilian football—the spiritual home of football worldwide.” Elsewhere, the report notes that: “A comprehensive literature review revealed a scarcity of studies specifically addressing the impact of climate change on football.” There’s plenty more useful insights in the report too.
The report was launched during G20 talks in Brazil, and Keir Starmer, UK Prime Minister, leaders from other countries, and well-known figures showed their support for the Earth FC campaign.
Spain. Floods and football.
The RFEF (Royal Spanish Football Federation) has convened a crisis committee with representation from key football bodies. It says that “A total of 37 facilities have been damaged in Valencia, 15 of them devastated football fields, and more than 20,000 licences affected”. A further news report says that the damage to football in Valencia is estimated at €20M.
Valencia CF and Levante UD both hosted emotional returns to match-football at their home grounds following DANA.
The Men’s Spanish National Team Manager, Luis de la Fuente, made this powerful video ahead of the team’s recent Nations League games.
In The Athletic: The impact of flooding in Valencia region: ‘Football was his life, and the water took his life away’ provides excellent first-hand reporting from Dermot Corrigan.
As the BBC News noted, Carlo Ancelotti joined a chorus of managers saying all La Liga matches should have been postponed in the immediate aftermath of DANA. For The Guardian, Sid Lowe wrote: With Spain still mourning Valencia’s flood victims, why did La Liga play on?
Elsewhere, teams, players and managers have continued to keep awareness of the situation very high. See Relevo, As.com and Superdeporte among others for more on these efforts.
Licensing
Law In Sport takes a very useful look at how sustainability criteria are being integrated into club licensing regulations in the German DFL and by UEFA.
The analysis looks at the recent updates to both sets of licensing, broader lessons for sports organisations, including on sponsorship, and how criteria could develop further: “it seems in the author’s view possible that ESG criteria become part of the UEFA Financial Sustainability system in the future, e.g. as a criterion – if fulfilled – allowing for further external investment. Such a development would go hand in hand with recent developments in the financial sector outside football.” It would be interesting to consider how else criteria could develop, for instance in relation to metrics and targets. Any other thoughts? Please share if so!
Elsewhere, it seems there is more practical work to do with raising awareness and understanding of licensing. UEFA has also just published some headline information about it, and a speaker at an ECA event is reported saying “It’s good to know that UEFA is already preparing a guide for reporting criteria for licensing for all of the clubs, as none of the clubs are fully sure of how to report on it”.
Top Insights
The Fields of Change Handbook, has been created by Football For Future and Common Goal. It aims to inspire organisations around the world to engage with environmental sustainability. Designed particularly for grassroots organisations, many others will find the content accessible and very useful too.
Understanding fans’ responses to sustainability: a segmentation of sport event goers’ pro-environmental intentions and behaviours. Fascinating and actionable research by Ioannis Konstantopoulos and colleagues in the Journal of Strategic Marketing.
What’s Stopping Us? Applying psychology to accelerate climate action in sport' is by Sport Positive, UNFCCC and the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations. The report call on the sports industry to take a series of actions, address impacts, lead by example, and promote wider transformation.
“there's no systematic, independent information on sustainability outcomes [of major sports events]. And this leads to two problems. First problem is that reporting mostly happens by the organisers, so the organisers choose what to report and how to report and how to collect the data. And the second problem is that there is no benchmark on what constitutes good or bad sustainability performance. So as a consequence, all events, almost all, end up as being presented as very sustainable”. Prof. Martin Müller, Lead PI of the Sports for the Planet? Project, speaking at the 2024 Sport Future Rendez-Vous event.
Arsenal and Science-Based Targets
Arsenal have become the first football club in the world to have a net-zero target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative. The globally respected organisation defines and promotes best practice on climate targets. The club joins over 6,000 companies around the world, including many household names, who have set approved targets.
By 2040, Arsenal will “Reduce Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 90% (compared to 2021 levels)”. On scope 3 targets for 2040, they “commit to reduce indirect emissions 97% for every £1m more the club is earning compared to 2021 income. It is designed to decouple future economic growth from the club’s emissions by reducing emissions intensity.”
This newsletter has regularly promoted the case for clubs and bodies to seek external, independent approval for their targets. So this is an important development. At the same time, with Arsenal being the only club to do so, it suggests that the football world more generally has catching-up to do with the wider corporate community.
Club focus
Check out the Football For Climate Justice pages for regular updates on actions by clubs involved in the project. Most recently, this includes work by Club Brugge, FC St.Pauli, FC Twente, and Real Betis.
Arsenal have launched the Green Action League to find their greenest supporter, and also competing against other sports teams globally.
Brentford fans can now get 20% off train tickets to all away fixtures outside of London, supporting efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Cambrian United. A great longer video with first hand stories from this community club in Wales.
Carlisle United’s partnership with the University of Cumbria is reported to have led to progress on sustainability initiatives.
Celtic’s 2023/2024 SECR is in their accounts. It mostly excludes Scope 3 emissions, the largest part of a club’s emissions. Reported emissions are energy use are almost unchanged from last year. There is a further brief section on environmental engagement.
Exeter City have introduced recycled benches at their ground.
Ipswich Town visited Forest Green Rovers to learn about their sustainability initiatives.
Juventus’s annual accounts includes strategic risks with one related to sustainability. It says actions may not be perceived adequate with possible consequent negative impacts on the image, reputation and brand.
Leyton Orient reported holding a carbon-free game at their stadium in October for their match against Rotherham, and have also completed work on 834 solar panels at the ground.
Lincoln City have implemented a drive to reduce the carbon footprint through a platform designed to facilitate behaviour change in fan travel.
Liverpool have joined the Green Operations and Advanced Leadership global network.
Manchester United’s annual “20-F” financial filing includes risks, one of which says “We are subject to risks relating to weather and climate change”. It goes on to say “Extreme weather conditions may cause property damage or interrupt our Matchday operations ... Climate change may affect the frequency or severity of these conditions … we cannot assure you that we will be able to fully insure such losses or fully collect, if at all, on claims resulting from such conditions”.
Newark and Sherwood United featured on ITV. The report looks at how they are driving sustainability in grassroots sport.
Norwich City’s 2023/2024 SECR is in their accounts. It mostly excludes Scope 3 emissions, the largest part of a club’s emissions. Reported emissions are 3.4% up on last year. Energy use is almost unchanged. The accounts also mention plans for a Sustainability Strategy Group to develop a long-term sustainability strategy.
Spurs reported their 2023/2024 emissions for all three scopes, including the 15 categories of scope 3 emissions. These show a 5% increase from last year to 98,790 tCO2e, which is also a 17% increase from their 2021/22 baseline. This is put down to “an increased number of events held at the stadium in this period and continued construction and IT infrastructure works”. The report also includes further detail on club sustainability actions.
York City Football Club Foundation have launched a kit recycling scheme with blue donation bins installed at schools and sports clubs.
FIFA
FIFA Congress (all member associations around the world) will meet online on 11th December to decide on the hosts of the Men’s World Cup 2030 and 2034. Before then look out for 1) Lots of views and news leading up to it 2) FIFA’s bid evaluation reports and what they say on the environment, and 3) the possibility of a FIFA Council meeting. These Council meetings have a habit of dropping new unexpected and often important announcements with environmental implications.
New global polling shows 72% of fans believe FIFA should drop Aramco as a sponsor, even if it means reduced funding. This follows on from former Nigeria international player, Ayisat Yusuf and over 100 female professional players criticising the deal on environmental and humanitarian grounds. Elsewhere, a detailed investigation saying “FIFA appears to have bent its own sustainability rules to get Aramco on board”.
The Guardian reports on new research showing that footballers are at ‘very high risk of extreme heat stress’ during World Cup 2026. The full research is here
Welcome!
To all those heading over to Bluesky … There’s a Sport x Climate Starter Pack here from Madeleine Orr, and this newsletter can be found here.
The Sustainability Huddle is go on Substack for all things sustainability and sports business. It’s from the team that brought you the super-useful The Sustainability Report.
Football Governance Bill
The legislation to create a a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) for English men's elite football is now being discussed in Parliament. It will go through several stages of scrutiny and potential amendment. The legislation does not contain environmental sustainability within its scope.
At the Second Reading stage in the House of Lords, different peers questioned whether environmental sustainability should be included. The Minister replied saying the IFR “will have a tightly defined scope, focusing on the issues causing serious harm to fans and communities and that cannot be solved through market regulation. Environmental issues are therefore not in scope”.
The next stage in the House of Lords is the Committee Stage which will look in more detail at the draft legislation and consider amendments to it. Lots of amendments have been put forward by peers, including some on environmental sustainability. These relate to the purpose and objectives of the IFR and also its ‘State of the Game’ report and licensing requirements. The next Committee Stage meeting is Monday 2nd December.
In other news
Senior leaders from a number of EFL clubs met to discuss their collective approach to environmental sustainability: “The idea that "management don't care" is a trope but clubs, leagues and governing bodies need to discuss this together at the highest level because there's more appetite that many of us realise.”
In the Czech Republic, the Prime Minister announced 850 million Koruna (€33.5m) of support for restoring sports facilities in the country, following the floods that affected several countries in Central and Eastern Europe in September. The full cost in other countries is unclear.
Amid growing concerns about the risk of heatstroke caused by exercise in the summer, the Japan Football Association has drawn up a policy that, from next year, will, in principle, not hold tournaments that it hosts in July and August.
Dialogue Earth looks at how climate change is impacting sports in Africa saying that athletes across the continent are struggling with increasingly common extreme weather, prompting calls for a fresh sporting calendar.
The Tuvalu Islands FA, based in the South Pacific, delivered a coaching course on a runway due to flooding on the country’s only football pitch. Flooding is “a challenge Tuvalu, along with many other OFC Member Associations (MAs), faces because of climate change”.
Several figures in the football world headed to COP29. The European Club Association announced a Football Clubs Alliance for Climate with 11 European clubs joining it.
A sustainability roadshow for all fans based in West Yorkshire, will take place at the John Smith’s Stadium on 9th December.
UEFA has entered into a partnership with a global platform for train and bus travel services that aims to promote sustainable travel.
Do we need a ‘Marcus Rashford’ for the climate? Is an interview with Dr. Steve Westlake of Cardiff University about his research on leading by example with low-carbon behaviour.
The Football Supporters’ Association Annual Awards take place next week. The nominees in the Climate Action category include a club, a community trust, a player and a fan group (which, full disclosure, I’m part of!).
Private aviation is making a growing contribution to climate change in Nature: Communications Earth & Environment. The research includes a focus on flights for the FIFA World Cup 2022.
EURO 2024 ESG Report
The UEFA EURO 2024 Environmental, Social and Governance report was published in November. The report was launched with a panel event also available in the link. Headlines include: a €29.6 million total investment in ESG work which supported 120 sustainability actions, including a €7 million Climate Fund for 272 sustainable projects. At the launch event it was mentioned that there was €400 million worth of applications for this Climate Fund, and that this raised a question of how does sport generate the supply to meet this untapped demand in the future.
Elsewhere the report mentions that it had minimised air travel by teams in group stages by 75% compared to EURO 2016 - a significant change that should now be a baseline to go further at future EURO’s. Separately, the report says that 7,600 ticket-holders took advantage of discounted InterRail tickets - its not clear whether this scheme will operate for the Women’s EURO’s in 2025. Elsewhere the report mentions that 90% of EURO 2024 staff travelled by public transport in Germany. Shortly after the report launch the short-flights by private jet by the UEFA President during the tournament gained understandable attention.
The report also says that overall there was “a 21% reduction in carbon emissions compared to initial forecasts”. It should be noted that the initial forecasts are not published, and also that UEFA say “assurance process ongoing” about the emissions figures in this report. It will be important to see the final figures (and for that matter the initial forecasts) whenever they emerge. Until then it seems best to be cautious on using this headline reduction figure. In addition, alongside the report there was an external verification process. In its presentation at the launch event, DEKRA says it had assessed UEFA as not able to demonstrate compliance for 3 of the 22 environmental criteria in its assessment.
The ESG report shows that UEFA has put significant thought and planning into its approach to sustainability at EURO 2024, and then taken a number of actions, backed with investment, with some notable results along with some important learnings for the future. As noted by a UEFA speaker at the launch event this needs to be the beginning of a transformational journey. The next question is: what more needs to be done for future tournaments?
A final observation: this approach stands in contrast to FIFA’s approach. For instance, we are yet to see a sustainability strategy for the men’s Club World Cup in 2025 or the men’s World Cup in 2026. At the UEFA launch event for this report, Maher Nasser of the UN Department of Global Communications, “maybe we should all push for the World Cup as well to do the same”.
I hope that kept you going. As ever corrections, comments, suggestions for content, and proposals to write guest posts are welcome at any time!
Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
footballandclimatechange@gmail.com
LinkedIn | Bluesky | X