World Cups, grassroots, players and more
Round-up #41
Season’s Greetings all!
This is the last newsletter post of the year. Huge thanks for subscribing to the newsletter, sharing your stories and insights, and most of all, for taking action.
If you are enjoying this newsletter, the best ways to show support is by sharing it with others, giving it a ‘like’, or providing insights to help make it better.
In 2025 I’m keen to explore and develop new ways to approach this newsletter, and football and climate issues more generally. If that interests you, drop me a line and lets catch-up and swap notes early in the New Year.
best wishes
Fran
Quick links: World Cups, Footballers speaking up, Grassroots football, Club focus, In other news, Stormy weather, Football and floods, Football Governance Bill, EURO 2024 emissions figures compared, Housekeeping.
World Cups
The big, if unsurprising, announcement this week was the final confirmation of the hosts of the Men’s World Cups for 2030 (6 countries will co-host) and 2034 (Saudi Arabia). Before the announcement, bid evaluation reports on the tournaments were issued. These included assessments by FIFA of environmental issues, which rated them as ‘low risk’. As noted previously in this newsletter, FIFA has not implemented most of the initiatives it committed to in its 2021 Climate Strategy. Doing so may have produced different evaluations.
Confirmation of the hosts appears to also confirm that FIFA will not meet the 50% reduction by 2030 target it signed up to, on joining the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework. If anyone can shed any light on what this means, if anything, for FIFA’s involvement in this framework, then please do.
Separately, FIFA also published sustainability reports for the Women’s World Cup 2023 and for the Men’s World Cup 2022. The sustainability report for the Men’s World Cup 2022 included an Ex post Greenhouse Gas Accounting Report putting tournament emissions at 3.8m tCO2e. At a headline level, it appears this is over twice the size of the Paris 2024 Olympics. It’s also not immediately clear that previous methodological concerns raised by independent experts (here and here) have been addressed. Again, if anyone has insights then please do share.
In other coverage:
A World Cup on three continents sparks climate concerns in France 24
World Cup 2030: High emissions and human rights issues in DW
Fuelling the fire: Environmentalists say FIFA’s Saudi 2034 decision puts greed before the planet in AP News
“A slap in the face” FIFA Saudi World Cup choice from the Cool Down Network
Burning up: FIFA scores stunning hat-trick of deceptive reports with 2022 sustainability account in Inside World Football
While this note has focussed on the environmental aspects of the World Cups, there has also been a huge amount of writing in relation to other issues, especially human rights. See for instance here.
Footballers speaking up
Emissions from air travel and major football tournaments is by Conor McCarthy et al, in European Sport Management Quarterly. Conor McCarthy is also a defender for EFL League One team Barnsley. Speaking to the Irish Independent he says: “We believe sporting bodies need to reconsider their policy of multi-nation hosts and focus on more centralised locations for World Cups and Euros.”
David Wheeler, Wycombe footballer and the Professional Footballers’ Association Sustainability Champion says Female footballers have shown us how – let’s build a sport free of fossil fuel deals: “Male players must step up and add their voice”. This came in the same week that David Wheeler won the Football Supporters’ Association Climate Action Award.
Grassroots football
What is sustainability at a grassroots level? by Ivan Liburd of National Sustainability Award winners, Leicester Nirvana FC. It looks at how football can empower the community through holistic support.
Football in wellies?! Has your match been cancelled by flooding? BBC Newsround looks at the problems of flooded pitches for youth teams. Manchester FA say: “our winters are becoming wetter and wetter, meaning pitches are holding a lot more water and not having the chance to drain properly, leaving a lot of pitches unplayable."
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK Parliament is to examine the health of sport in local communities and schools. It will include a look at the current quality and availability of facilities for grassroots sport, sources of funding, and whether they are sufficient. Anyone can submit evidence. The deadline is 15 January 2025.
The latest monthly newsletter on grassroots sport and sustainability from the award-winning team at the Save Today Play Tomorrow programme is here.
Club focus
Alloa Saints Youth has launched a 'Trees for Goals' project with the aim of planting a tree for every goal scored by the team. It’s inspired by Kenyan footballer and environmentalist Lesein Mutunkei.
Austin won the MLS Club Award for Sponsorship Activation of the Year for their year-round platform that amplifies sustainability initiatives.
Barcelona have introduced an environmental fee on tickets for the Barça Immersive Tour to help fund the Club’s ‘Net-Zero’ objectives.
Bournemouth has received two Team of the Week Carbon Boots for flying for games at Ipswich and Wolves
Brentford has published its first sustainability report. It focuses on the 2023/24 season and is set out around five pillars: Governance, Climate, Circularity, Nature, and Engagement. The club reports emissions of 8,765 tCO2e for 2023/24 and commits to setting a net zero carbon target.
Bridlington Town is a solar-powered run football club under its 'eco warrior' owner, says Yahoo Finance.
Forest Green Rovers new timber football stadium gained planning approval. It’s an all-wooden 5,000 seat stadium..
Lewes has won a regional Environmental Sustainability Award. Central to the win was their reusable cups scheme and stadium gardens.
Liverpool has received a Team of the Week from Carbon Boot for flying for their game with Newcastle.
Manchester City report on 10 years of the City Football Academy, including its approach to environment and sustainability. It has a video interview with Peter Bradshaw, Director of Sustainability for City Football Group.
Rangers has published their 2023/2024 SECR in their annual accounts. It does not include Scope 3 emissions. Emissions are equated to 4,500 tCO2e, up from 2,000 tCO2e last year, though energy use remains constant. The reasons are unclear.
Sheffield United has announced a two-year branding partnership with a clean energy provider.
VfB Stuttgart has won a sustainability award and published its first sustainability report. The club have published the report on the DNK (German Sustainability Code) database. Over 1,000 German companies use the DNK which helps make sustainability efforts of different organisations visible and comparable. The club reports emissions for 2019/20 of 7902 tCO2e (using, seemingly, a ‘market-based’ reporting approach).
In other news
Two thirds of UK fans believe soccer should be more sustainable says new research from Carbon Responsible reported by SportsPro. I’ve added a section to the Resources page on fan surveys, though not yet club-specific ones. If you know of any please send on.
“[S]port organizations may have more freedom to promote environmental initiatives than assumed, without risking fan alienation” says new research for the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship.
A post for the World Economic Forum asks Can sport empower us to be more sustainable?
Is this a website about the climate or football? From Brazil, a project from the Observatório do Clima, COP HUB, has everything you need to know about Climate Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings, but written in football language.
Kits for the World on EU Regulations and the Rise of Sustainable Football Apparel Practices.
The new Green Flags podcast includes Manchester United captain and Lioness, Maya Le Tissier.
Greening the Game is a video interview with Lord Deben, the former Chair of the UK Committee on Climate Change, hosted by Dom Goggins of BASIS - The British Association for Sustainable Sport.
Climate action through football. DW speaks to an organization in Zimbawe that helps young people develop their environmental awareness and action.
Two games moved to late evening times have seen complaints, and also mean there are no options for away fans to travel home sustainably by train. They are: Everton vs Peterborough United and Fulham vs Manchester United.
In Tehran, football matches, including youth and adult categories, were cancelled due to worsening air pollution.
Sport unites all 193 Member States at the UN General Assembly – The “Sport as an Enabler of Sustainable Development” resolution was adopted by consensus. Part of it “Recognises that the sport sector can contribute to addressing the adverse impacts of climate change.”
There are lots of useful updates and insights on projects around Europe through the Football for Climate Justice project to check out.
The Polish Football Association hosted an ESG Football Summit which included speakers from UEFA and the ECA. Video available here.
FIFA are recruiting a Sustainability Manager for the 2026 World Cup. Deadline 6 January 2025.
Stormy weather
Storm Darragh led to the Met Office in the UK issuing a rare 'danger to life' red wind warning. Matches up and down the football pyramid were postponed (including my son’s youth team match here in London). All games in Wales were postponed and following the storm, the Northern Ireland Football League Chief Executive was forced to apologise following confusion over postponement of games.
The most high-profile match to be postponed was the Everton vs Liverpool game with an official statement saying “it was decided that, due to the risk to safety in the local area due to strong wind gusts … today’s fixture should be postponed on safety grounds”. This highlights that while a pitch may be playable, and the stadium facilities safe, wider risks from extreme weather need to be taken into account.
The BBC reports on how a community has rallied to help storm-hit non-league football club, Sawbridgeworth Town FC. £3,000 has been donating and people are lending a hand to clear the affected area. Club coach Ross Livermore is reported as saying: "It's grassroots football. You have to help each other to survive and unfortunately something like this is taking its toll because its the funding that we're going to have to find to try and rebuild the club”.
Sticking with the theme of people coming together in response to extreme weather, Pledgeball report on the flooded pitch at AFC Wimbledon, the response from fans, and how it showed the power of community in FLOOD BROTHERS: How the AFC Wimbledon deluge actually shows we can combat climate change in football.
Elsewhere, a new report by Climate X projects $800 million in climate-related losses by 2050 for the 27 leading football venues it analyses under a high-emissions scenario.
It would be fascinating to also see analysis under other climate scenarios and for other football stadia. As noted in the last newsletter, there is an acknowledged shortage of research and analysis on the affects of climate change on football. If you know of any further work in the pipeline and/or want to see more happen, get in touch and let’s share notes!
Football and floods
The new Football In the Flood website has some arresting AI pictures of what London football grounds would look like underwater, and punchy accompanying messages. The London flood map comes from work by Climate Central, which the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research has looked at in further depth here. They say: “As long as [flood] defences continue to be maintained, and the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan is implemented, it is very unlikely that the areas indicated … will actually be flooded.” Which leads to the question: are the defences being maintained and plans being implemented?
The new CEO of the UK Climate Change Committee has told the BBC that the UK is not ready for extreme weather, saying "We're off track against where we should be - and that's things like flood defences”, the UK must do more to prepare for scenarios like flooding. This follows recent news that the Government has set up a taskforce to “speed up and co-ordinate flooding preparation and resilience”.
In short, more action is needed. The Football In the Flood website includes actions we can take as individuals. What about actions by clubs and businesses more generally? A new report from Boston Consulting Group says “Climate risks are no longer a distant threat; they are unfolding now, disrupting industries worldwide”. It provides a practical guidebook for CEOs to take action too.
Football Governance Bill. Update #2
The legislation to create a a new Independent Football Regulator (IFR) for English men's elite football continues to be discussed in Parliament as it goes through several stages of scrutiny and potential change (the previous update is here). The legislation does not contain environmental sustainability within its scope though some peers have suggested it should.
At the 2nd December Committee Stage meeting a range of amendments were discussed in relation to including environmental sustainability in the IFR with a number of peers putting forward a diverse range of views. The Minister concluded the debate saying:
“I would … be happy to discuss further with the noble Baroness [Jones] how we can use good examples of football clubs already acting on the climate change emergency and spread best practice … The areas specified in the purpose of the Bill are based only on issues that English football has clearly shown itself to be unable to self-regulate and to risk clubs being lost to their fans and local communities.
By contrast, football has already demonstrated the ability to take action on the environment: for example, the Premier League’s new minimum standard of action on environmental issues across both the clubs and the league … Football authorities must take more proactive steps to accelerate their own environmental initiatives. However, it is within the gift of leagues, clubs and other authorities across the game to do so without government intervention …. while I acknowledge the importance of this issue, as I have set out, we do not feel it is right to add environmental sustainability to the purpose of this Bill. I look forward to further discussions on how we can best promote environmental sustainability within the game.”
Further detailed debates on all parts of the Football Governance Bill are continuing in to January. The next stage after this will be ‘Report Stage’. This newsletter will continue to follow developments.
EURO 2024 emissions figures compared
UEFA’s ‘EURO 2024 Environmental, Social and Governance Report’ said that the carbon footprint was 320,000 tCO2e, which is a “21% reduction in carbon emissions compared to initial forecasts”. The previous edition of this newsletter said “it seems best to be cautious on using this headline reduction figure” until further details emerge.
We now also have the Evaluation Study of the UEFA EURO 2024 carried out by Bielefeld University for the German Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community. The study includes a report by DEKRA on tournament emissions. It says that the carbon footprint was 780,000 tCO2e, which is nearly 60% higher than estimates calculated before the tournament of 490,000 tCO2e. Why the big differences between this evaluation study and UEFA’s ESG report?
This may be partly down to what is being included. The DEKRA study includes all those attending fan zones, 6.14 million people, many of whom may not have gone to a game. It is not clear if UEFA include all these people or just those attending games. As The Carbon Trust has previously said “Hidden emissions like this must be considered for a clear picture of what the carbon footprint of an event will be.”
DEKRA also says more attended than they previously thought would, the share of ticket holders living in a foreign country was also higher, and tickets were distributed among more visitors than previously expected.
In a positive report for sustainability action taken during the tournament the report says that “The lower ex-post per capita emissions … indicate the effectiveness of climate friendly mobility measures”. At the same time “The greatest savings potential lies in shifting from medium and short-distance flights and car use to public long-distance trains.” This seems to provide extra backing for discounted Inter-rail to be included in the Women’s EURO 2025 plans. More generally, the big differences in approach and results between the two reports leaves open questions on emissions reporting for future tournaments.
Housekeeping
I’ve made some minor updates to the 'Resources’ page. There is still more to do. If you see anything to add or change, drop a line.
I’ve also had a pop at updating the logo for the newsletter. Thanks to all those who have fed in views on very sketchy earlier versions. I’m up for iterating it, and the look of these pages, further. So if you have any views and/or expertise, please do share as this is being done on a shoestring approach without professional expertise, in what is possibly exactly the wrong way to go about these things!
There’s also a new email address for the newsletter: info@footballandclimate.org . It’s a bit shorter and, I hope, easier to remember. The old one still works, so all good if you want to use that.
And as ever, comments, corrections, content suggestions and offers to write guest posts are really, really, really welcome at any time.
Ta, ta!
Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
info@footballandclimate.org
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