10 stories, 10 visuals, and your views
An end of year wrap and look at challenges and opportunities
2023 has whizzed by, hasn’t it? Big thanks again for subscribing. Stay locked in for more in ‘24. To tide you over during the festive period, here is a look back and a look forward on the football and climate change agenda.
I hope this post gives you something to mull over with some mulled wine! And if you also want a hot-off-the-press environmental perspective on today’s ECJ verdict on FIFA and UEFA rules, there is one here.
If you enjoy this post please share the love through likes and/or shares. See you again soon.
best wishes
Fran
10 stories from 2023
FIFA 'made false statements' about a carbon-neutral men’s World Cup. The verdict followed a complaint by Fossil Free Football and others. The outcome had global coverage and impacts beyond football. FIFA is now under closer scrutiny in other areas such as sponsorship and tournament decisions.
The inaugural Green Football Weekend took place in February. It generated lots of actions by fans and clubs, brought together a big range of partners, and led to significant conversation in the media. It’s back in February 2024
Ladakh, a region in India, hosted a “Climate Cup” Football Tournament. In Forbes, Vitas Carosella wrote about Raising Climate Change Awareness In India Above 11,000 Feet.
Here in the newsletter the most widely read post was by Ivan Liburd of Leicester Nirvana FC on Bridging the gap between inequalities and sustainability in grassroots football. Looking forward to learning more about their next steps in 2024.
The BBC’s What could more European football mean for planet? shone a light on what footballer Morten Thorsby called elsewhere the ‘elephant in the room’ - more games meaning more emissions. Separately, UEFA’s plans for EURO2024 included a raft of initiatives aimed at minimising emissions.
How football clubs should report their carbon footprint, also in this newsletter, by Thom Rawson of Sustainable Football, set out a standardised approach that could lead to a huge and desperately needed step-change in transparency and accountability.
A Sustainable Travel Charter for domestic flights by clubs was launched by Pledgeball and the Football Supporters’ Association. Several clubs have already signed-up to it.
The Game Changer II Report looked at the impact of climate change on sport in the UK, including football. It made important recommendations on data collection, transparency, funding, collaboration and regulation.
The biggest player-led climate action ever took place for the 2023 women’s World Cup, organised by Football For Future and Common Goal. The coverage demonstrated the impact of players and the women’s game breaking new ground. It also highlighted problems with offsetting, and that there’s currently no sustainable solution to air travel.
The Sky Future of Football series took a multimedia look at Climate and Sustainability as part of their visions for the future of football, with a range of perspectives from the football community.
And a bonus new story from the last week. On LinkedIn, Tom Rivett-Carnac of Global Optimism asked how we correct a situation in which a player will not speak out for fear of being called a hypocrite. It drew a large and diverse range of responses.
There’s plenty more I’ve not covered here and maybe should have chosen instead. You can take a look at previous newsletter posts and tell me what ones you would have liked to have seen highlighted.
10 visuals from 2023
Here are 10 visuals that struck me. Among them are a few from other sports that really hit home too. Again, in no particular order …
The Dalai Lama launched the Ladakh FC jersey before the first “Climate Cup” in the region. Image from Ladakh FC
Inches. This got me hyped. A 3mins video with Al Pacino on the Sustainable Development Goals
“Get ready for the battle”. A 1 min video released during the men’s Rugby World Cup,
Player power. Players from India and Japan were seen collecting used water bottles after their game. From IFTWC - Indian Football
Flights. There were so many pictures to choose from when it comes to players and teams taking very short flights. But Neymar really took the biscuit in posing for this picture of him being lent a 747 jet to privately fly him to Saudi Arabia. (Image: @AviationWG/Twitter)
Vermont Green FC: Climate Justice & The Beautiful Game. A short documentary on the US team.
Sponsorship and sport. A highly-relevant video about the Rugby World Cup given the sponsorship interests of fossil fuel companies in football too
Loss and Damage. A thought-provoking infographic
Green Football Weekend. Highlights from 2023 and a look forward to 2024
Extremes. During pre-season Spurs flew to Australia for one match, then to Bangkok for another which was cancelled due to rain (pictured below). They then went to Singapore to play in 40°C temperatures. credit: GETTY
Your views
In the last newsletter I asked an open question: What are the biggest opportunities and/or challenges coming up in 2024 on the football and climate change agenda?
A huge thank you to everyone who took the time to respond. It led to a wide-range of insights.
I’ve aimed to include all the feedback that was provided. I’ve edited down and then grouped the responses into themes as I see them. Any misrepresentation or content I’ve missing off is all my bad.
It was not intended to try and gain a representative sample, so the topics here are not going to be comprehensive, and could be over/under emphasised in importance. But I hope the broad range of perspectives provides useful context for informing and taking action in the year ahead.
More questions to subscribers to follow in 2024! And in no particular order your feedback is …
Potential and practice. Football’s “potential to educate and catalyse wider behaviour change is huge” said one respondent. Another noted clubs “potential to be community assets for climate change and education”. A further respondent summarised both the opportunity and challenges ahead as “More radical action that truly and tangibly addresses what kind of transformation is needed urgently for sport to authentically been classed as sustainable”. Another focussed on the “practical resources for people to use and access”. While a further response focussing on evidence-gathering saying “I can only hope that the data gathered and fans surveys will be publicly available”.
Collaboration. One respondent said there was a “Huge chance to do something collectively”. Another said that we are ”starting to see more clubs take action and implement programmes, but it’s all in isolation at the moment”, while another made the point that that “players fans and clubs at grass roots levels can all have an impact”. A further response also mentioned the importance of “helping everyone know how they can contribute to the agenda and do their bit”. Another saw an opportunity particularly in “purpose driven partnership”.
Innovation. One respondent said they were “not sure there's enough pioneers in this space” and another added that there is opportunity in “ongoing innovation and commitment for positive outcomes”. A further response also pointed to “opportunities in technological advancements”.
Travel. Respondents brought this up from different angles. A couple of responses identified both fan and player travel as a challenge. An additional response proposed “banning short haul flights,” while another identified an opportunity to “show how very few journeys that professional teams make to away games need to be by plane”.
Differential impacts. Two perspectives. Firstly, grassroots clubs “need a practical way to deliver on net zero. grassroots clubs can’t afford hiring of pitches let alone to transition to low carbon future.” Separately, in small island nations “weather patterns and extreme weather conditions have a great impact on competitions, trainings and ability for small island nations … This furthers the divide between small island nations and bigger countries in terms of game time, quality of competitions etc”.
Oil money. One respondent said the biggest challenge is “FIFA formally announcing the Saudi Aramco sponsor deal” while, along similar lines, another said “The biggest challenge is the growing presence of petrostates in the game, which is going seemingly unchallenged. This threatens the integrity of the sport and is cleary part of a broader strategy of climate delay.”
Fans. One respondent focussed on the opportunity to drive progress through “the footfall and ‘sets of eyes’ on football every week”. Along similar lines a respondent said “enhanced fan engagement” was the biggest opportunity in 2024. Another respondent was “pretty disheartened by some of the online reaction” they had seen from some fans of their club.
Governance. One said the “professional game has a duty to do more”, another said that “ruling bodies setting the criteria in football” was an opportunity. Another said that “Governing Bodies committing to sustainability policies” was an opportunity, and a further response said that they could “Follow the example from the likes of Sport England and the ECB and publish environment plans.“ A separate respondent also noted the “Contradictory actions of governing bodies – quite happy to pay lip service to climate challenges but then expand tournaments, demand more games played under restructured European competitions”. Internationally, “UEFA and FIFA’s lack of serious plans following their UN commitments a few years after signing” was seen as a challenge. At a club level, one respondent noted of the club they support that “the board provided quite a ‘brush off’ and unsatisfactory answer” to their questions on climate issues.
Leadership. One respondent identified the opportunity from “Getting footballers to clearly & visibly speak up and act on climate change” while another said that “As Marcus Rashford did on school meals, think there’s massive potential for players to take a stand on climate”. A separate response said the “biggest opportunity is for club and leagues (particularly Premier League) to lead the way and provide both carrot and stick methods to clubs to reduce their impact and be bolder in their comms … They could be strong and lead the way on this but they're incredibly weak”.
Energy use by clubs. Two different perspectives were mentioned. One saw a challenge from “clubs 'greenwashing' through buying green energy whilst not cutting carbon emissions.” Another saw an opportunity from “rewarding clubs that take steps to overhaul energy use”.
Tournaments. One response noted the “EURO 2024 tournament in Germany where a range of sustainability measures have been proffered and should showcase what can be achieved with a coherent and joint-up approach”. Taking another angle, a response drew attention to the challenge of “Fixture congestion and tournament structure – think packed fixture lists and continued tournament expansion pose threats and they necessitate more, faster, and ultimately less climate friendly travel by fans and players alike”. Along similar lines another identified “the climate impact of the new CL format.” and also said there was a need for the ”start of the discussion of the climate impact and conditions of the ‘26 World Cup”.
Kit. One respondent said “elite clubs should be leading the way on reducing the amount of wasted kit and replica kits that their supporters have to buy every season and the old sits in cupboards or goes to landfill”.Another asked: “Fast fashion: do we really need 4 or 5 new kits – plus training wear – per club per season?”
Other opportunities. One respondent said that “stadia and training grounds offer huge opportunities for things like rooftop solar, water collection and recycling and potentially energy storage”. Another identified the challenge from the “Huge carbon footprint in production, transit and ultimately waste” and also said the “opportunity is for elite clubs to lead the way in promoting the circular economy”
And that’s a wrap for 2023. See you back here in 2024, fully recharged and ready to push things forward!
Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
footballandclimatechange@gmail.com
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