Anniversaries, storms, Man Utd, scope 3, and more
Round-up #18
Leadership and regulation emerge as key themes in this round-up of news from the last fortnight.
The newsletter is now 1-year old, how did that happen? I’m keen to explore new approaches, partnerships, collaborations and contributions. If that might interest you pop to the next steps at the end of the newsletter for more.
And let’s go …
Another Anniversary
On 3rd November 2021, the Premier League said: “The development of the Premier League's environmental sustainability strategy is ongoing and will be launched in 2022.” Yet here we are on the two-year anniversary of that statement, and nada. At a time when we need a high-press, the Premier League hasn’t made it out onto the pitch. If anyone has any news they can share about where work on it is up to, then please do!
UEFA
What could more European football mean for the planet? by the BBC included a must-watch interview with the UEFA Director of Sustainability. It’s had over 1.4m views and plenty of comment. The BBC research uncovered issues similar to those in English football with perverse incentives, governance and accountability issues, and a lack of self-regulation.
In an accompanying video, the UEFA President refused to talk to the BBC about sustainability. The silence at the top appears to be feeding into the organisation’s work. Footballer Morten Thorsby pointed out “The sustainability division in UEFA could do a lot more but is massively under-financed”.
Is it only a matter of more internal resources, or does UEFA’s rulebook need beefing up too? Or is it that external regulation is needed, possibly through a regulator? Voices within football are already suggesting the need for a European football regulator on financial issues due to UEFA being compromised by big clubs.
Views welcome! And as a prompt …
“Over 70% of companies surveyed identified government regulation as being the most important driver for accelerating the energy transition.” The Corporate Climate Stocktake 2023
Stormy weather
Storm Ciaran affected Bournemouth vs Liverpool with both managers describing playing conditions as very difficult. It also forced Liverpool to travel home by coach after their planned flight was grounded. Elsewhere, a large number of games were postponed, particularly further down the football pyramid, including my son’s U13 match!
"Absolute chaos" said the Ireland Women’s Manager describing conditions in Albania amid concerns for player safety. See also this tiktok from the match by Ireland player Denise O’Sullivan.
World Cups
The sole bidders for the men’s World Cup 2030 and 2034 were announced along with the next steps in the process to finalise them as hosts. Forbes looks at why Saudi Arabia Hosting The 2034 World Cup Shows Sustainability Is Not A Priority For FIFA. The article includes quotes from Barney Weston of Football for Future who has also written for The Guardian on why the World Cup bid process makes a mockery of green pledges and why its time for reform.
On other World Cup matters …
Women’s World Cup 2027. Belgium, Netherlands and Germany launched a joint bid saying “Matches will be played within a compact vicinity centred around the borders of our three countries to limit travel and meet ambitious objectives around sustainability”. They join bids from Brazil, South Africa and a joint US/Mexico bid.
Men’s World Cup 2026. FIFA are recruiting for a Head of Environment for the tournament.
Research
“Over 75% of fans felt football clubs should be part of developing climate solutions”
So says a new survey as part of the Football for Climate Justice project which has delivered the first two in-depth reports about fans perspective as part of its ongoing work.
Wycombe Wanderers published some fascinating findings from a sustainability survey of their fans. It was undertaken to inform their new club strategy. More of these surveys from other clubs would be useful too, including to compare similarities and differences.
Insightful research focussing on elite winter sport athletes includes a survey of 360 of these athletes. It would also be great to see some similar in-depth research with footballers. Has that been done? And/or is there anything in the works?
The Sports Ecology Group have released the first of a planned series of research reviews in The Sustainability Report. It focuses on fan travel, air pollution, and scheduling of fixtures.
Manchester United
The club released their 2022/3 accounts for the US Stock Exchange. The section on sustainability is led by a high-level statement saying “We recognize the need to move towards a more sustainable economy”. It’s not clear what that means for future action, and there is no mention of any targets. The club is also one of 14 in the Premier League yet to make a net-zero commitment. The rest of the sustainability section is short and lists a handful of activities (and includes mention of problematic offsetting).
Elsewhere in the accounts, ‘weather and climate change’ is included as one of the 30 risks in the section on ‘Risks Related to Our Business ’, though given less attention than others. Also, interestingly, it is not mentioned in the section on ‘Risks Related to Our Industry’!
Let’s hope for more substantial environmental reporting from the club in their 2022/3 UK Companies House accounts filing early next year, if not before then.
Elsewhere …
Green Football Weekend is returning on 2-5 February 2024, bringing together fans, clubs and the wider footballing community to take action to tackle climate change.
On Yer Bike! Brentford fan group, Sustainabees (which I’m part of) organised a bike ride to Chelsea and were joined by a club director. Newham cyclists organised a Bike from Boleyn ride from West Ham’s former ground to their new home. I’d be keen to hear about any more organised fan cycling activities going on. Please drop a line!
Podcast. Writer David Goldblatt, always fascinating to hear, talks about environmental sustainability on the Footpolpodcast.
Clubs. FC Business magazine (on pgs.40-43) covers points made by Liverpool, Spurs and Man City at the Sport Positive Summit. Even more on that Summit here too.
Club partnerships have included:
Also, Real Betis have marked 3 years of their environmental impact platform and Newcastle United have joined the British Association for Sustainable Sport.
And …
Harry Kane has launched his own sustainable audio brand, 'Our Pure Planet'.
Football Makes History has a series of three articles on the historical relationship between football and fossil fueled industry.
The Mirror newspaper covers a football team's remarkable fines for players as they bid to fight climate change
Reporting: Scope 3 and more
The UK Government is seeking views on Scope 3 emissions reporting. Some clubs - mainly in Premier League - already report on these emissions but in disparate ways. The importance of consistency in reporting them has been covered in the newsletter here and here.
The same consultation also asks for views on the future of Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting requirements, which many larger clubs also report against. Without irony, it asks if there are ways to streamline the streamlined reporting.
The key takeaway from all this, and other ongoing consultations, is that smarter, clearer sustainability reporting should be on the way, and will help with transparency and accountability. People get ready!
Next steps
The newsletter is now 1-year old and has a surprisingly good and growing number of subscribers from across the football and climate communities - thanks to you all.
Through a bit of experimentation, the newsletter has hit a groove of fortnightly round-ups, occasional in-depth pieces, and some guest posts - HUGE THANKS to the people who have contributed those.
So, so far, so good … in a way. The challenge is huge and the passion to deliver change is strong and widespread, but time is short. So it’s time to consider new directions and try new things.
The aim of the newsletter remains the same: by building a greater understanding, I hope it can help contribute to more and better action.
Trying to find some words to describe the approach I’m hoping for with the newsletter I’d say: independent, open, accessible, evidence-driven, always learning, change-focused, constructively critical and amplifying progress.
But it’s a work-in-progress, doesn’t always get things right, and I’m keen to work with people on ways of doing things better. I’d be keen to hear from people willing to help out as volunteers (like myself!), to inform or lead pieces as:
researchers, with skills in research, analysis, policy, strategy, data or environmental reporting.
writers. This could be 1) with journalistic skills and an eye for an upcoming or current news story 2) more generally with great writing skills that can take a different perspective beyond the news cycle, and/or 3) editorial skills to edit me and others in to shape.
I’m also very open to exploring options going beyond this existing approach. That might mean partnering strategically with individuals or organisations, joining up on individual initiatives, or collaborating in other innovative ways. If that might be you or your organisation, please get in touch.
And if you’d prefer to just provide some feedback on the newsletter to inform its next steps and direction - good, bad or ugly - I’m all ears for that too.
See you again soon!
Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
footballandclimatechange@gmail.com
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