What’s the context?
UEFA stated that Euro 2024 would be the greenest European Championship yet, but can soccer reduce the carbon emissions of its games?
- The majority of emissions are derived from player and player travel
- FIFA expanding World Cup tournaments despite green pledges
- International organizations urged to demand that clubs be held accountable
LONDON—Millions of soccer fans worldwide went to Germany in June to watch their teams compete in the Euro 2024 football championship, which ends on Sunday. However, the organizers would like the atmosphere to be the biggest winner.
In the past, European football’s governing body, UEFA, stated that the competition would become ” the most sustainable European Championship of all time,” a bold claim for a sport with a significant carbon footprint.
UEFA committed to using renewable energy for stadiums, reducing waste, and subsidizing fans’ train journeys. Teams were also told to travel via coach or train if their journey was shorter than three hours. Match ticket holders were also provided with free passes to public transport.
A few of the efforts have been successful. On June 29, UEFA announced a 75% reduction in the total number of trips made by the competing teams in the group stage compared with the tournament in 2016.
With international tournaments scheduled to become even more extensive in 2026 and 2030, FIFA World Cups will be held on diverse continents, with teams from more countries. What can football do to cut its carbon footprint and cut down on the carbon footprint of its players?
What Is The Carbon Footprint of Football?
Estimates of football’s impact on emissions are typically unsuitable as they must consider essential activities such as stadium construction. Club emissions are challenging to estimate because they differ depending on the club’s size and location.
Experts are unanimous that travel by the teams and fans is the most significant factor.
The 2016-2017 season saw travel makeup 61% of England Premier League’s carbon footprint, according to a 2019 study. Transport is believed to be responsible for 88% of the carbon footprint of Euro 2024.
An analysis of German Bundesliga team VfL Wolfsburgs carbon output has revealed that 60 percent of the emissions are due to fan movement, with only 20% considered “direct” emissions that result from heating facilities.
Even if data can be obtained, authorities claim that the event organizers and clubs frequently need to produce precise estimates, and their efforts to reduce emissions typically result in offsets.
The practice is controversial. It permits a country or business to purchase carbon credits in exchange for actions to reduce emissions elsewhere, such as purchasing and maintaining a forest or planting trees.
Like climate experts, carbon offsets are often used as the basis for net-zero claims in sporting events.
For instance, FIFA, the governing body, estimated that the 2022 World Cup in Qatar would produce approximately 3.6 million tonnes of emissions. However, because of offsets, FIFA still promoted this tournament as the world’s first carbon-neutral sporting event.
A Swiss Independent regulator eventually determined that the assertions were incorrect and misleading.
What Do Clubs Are Doing To Cut Down On The Carbon Footprint Of Their Clubs?
The efforts vary from country to country; however, an early pioneer of this field is the fourth-tier English team Forest Green Rovers, which FIFA describes as “the world’s greenest football club.”
Since 2010, the club has been working to become the only carbon-neutral sports club worldwide. It has moved to 100% renewable energy and offers an entirely vegan menu to staff and fans. It has also introduced rainwater recycling, electric vehicle charging points, and an all-natural pitch.
European clubs have also followed the same model, investing in renewable energy to run stadiums, constructing biofuel-powered buses, and conducting workshops on the environment and desirable practices for their players.
The teams from AC Milan to Liverpool now have kits with products made from recycled plastics.
“Clubs are well engaged in the elements that are in their control, like saving energy and managing waste,” said Thom Rawson, founder of an advisory organization called Sustainable Football.
“There’s a massive need for football to work collaboratively with partners in travel and merchandise,” he said.
In 2016, the United Nations launched the Sports for Climate Action Framework, which requires signatories to cut their carbon emissions and reach net zero by 2040.
The Premier League signed up in 2021. Tottenham, Arsenal, Liverpool, and Southampton have joined the league, along with several other non-league and European teams.
The Bundesliga still needs to be signed; however, clubs must satisfy the minimum sustainability requirements to be permitted to participate in the league.
In its global climate strategy, FIFA has announced that it will strive to reduce emissions from the events it organizes and will be carbon-neutral as an organization in 2040.
What Is Football’s Contribution Against Other Sports Concerning Emissions?
As air travel increases, the carbon emissions of football skydivers are the sport with the most prominent individual carbon footprint of any sport, along with golfers following, especially if you consider manufacturing as the use of pesticides and fertilizers for maintaining courses and travel.
Formula One estimates that a race season can emit about 250,000 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), roughly equal to five thousand regular automobiles, compatible with a calculator by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The sport is exploring new fuels that can reduce emissions from the cars themselves and freight and logistical emissions, accounting for the bulk of F1’s carbon emissions.
For major international events, organizers of the 2024 Olympics in Paris aim to keep emissions lower than 1.5 million tonnes of CO2, which is less than half the carbon emissions of the Summer Games. They agreed with the International Olympic Committee to cut its emissions to half by 2030.
Is Football Performance Suitable?
Although clubs have begun to implement changes, there needs to be more momentum for decarbonizing football, according to Rawson, who would like regulators to standardize carbon reporting and establish minimum standards for clubs to be held accountable.
UEFA was a participant in it to participate in the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2022 and has pledged to cut emissions from its activities in the next decade. It also released sustainable guidelines that will benefit clubs by increasing their energy and water consumption in manufacturing food, clothing, and infrastructure for building construction. It also created a tool that will help teams estimate their emissions.
British sports journalist and research scientist David Goldblatt said football should also “draw the line” on sponsorship by fossil fuel companies.
Car manufacturers with high-carbon sponsors to airlines are commonplace in sports. Still, they are now becoming controversial, with companies accusing organizations representing the environment of “sports washing” of tarnished images.
FIFA has also been criticized for not prioritizing the environment when bidding for the tournament, with oil-rich Saudi Arabia set to host 2034’s World Cup.
The 2026 male World Cup will be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and the 2030 tournament was presented by three countries, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, and Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay, hosting matches in celebration of the tournament’s centenary.
FIFA is also increasing the number of teams participating in this year’s men’s World Cup from 32 to 48. The women’s World Cup included 32 teams this year, a jump from 24.
