Club actions, pre-seasons, World Cups and more
Round-up #35
Hello all,
This post goes out as European domestic leagues are getting back in to the full swing of things. It starts with a round-up of club-focussed actions from the last couple of weeks. It then has further sections on pre-season games, World Cups, and a collection of other news from the past fortnight that tickled my fancy.
Thanks for all the views so far on the newsletter, what’s working well with it, and what could work better. You can still add your views here.
Fran
Club-focused actions round-up
AFC Ajax Amsterdam’s Johan Cruyff Arena has installed a second battery as part of an EU-funded project. It allowed a recent match to be entirely run on sustainable energy. The story is also covered by Interesting Engineering.
Bangor City Stadium, home to Bangor 1876, is aiming to become the first net-zero football stadium in Wales and the UK. Their plans include power storage systems enabling the stadium to go off-grid.
Brentford FC have partnered to offer 20% off rail travel to an away match to help cut CO2, and unveiled a community garden as part of efforts to protect and enhance the environment. A club fan group, Sustaina-Bees (which I’m part of) announced their first cycle rides of the season.
Club Deportivo Guadalajara FC have joined the United Nations Football for the Goals initiative. More on the UN initiative here.
Forest Green Rovers FC new kit incorporates climate stripes and biodiversity stripes into its design. Separately, they have announced a partnership with a sustainable performancewear brand.
Lewes FC: Who Gives A Crap? We do! The club have partnered with an eco-friendly toilet paper company.who will be the club’s front of shirt sponsor.
Luton Town FC have announced that there home shirt will be rolled over for 2024/25.
Motherwell FC and Pedal to the Pitch have teamed up to encourage more fans walking, wheeling and cycling to home games.
Real Betis and Manchester United held ‘The Greenest Game’ in San Diego, with the Real Betis chief executive telling the BBC that the fixture “does not address the bigger impact of overseas pre-season tours”.
Santos FC have had a training and climate action meeting with environmental organisations to discuss how climate change and extreme heat impacts athletes and fans.
A video from Sheffield United FC Community Foundation on ‘Nature Based Blades: Creating a Sustainable Future’.
Spurs Women have agreed a sponsorship with a mineral water firm with a focus on sustainability.
Sunderland AFC’s plans for a solar farm continue to face opposition, reports the BBC.
Wolves FC have worked with Transport for West Midlands to provide a free four-week travel scheme for season ticket holders.
Wycombe Wanderers FC have introduced recyclable cups at their ground following a sustainability survey of fans.
Community Sports Trusts in action include: Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers and Carlisle United.
Pre-season games
Detailed new research for Play the Game shows the extensive pre-season travelling by European clubs and its significant carbon footprint. Among the many insights, here’s just one that jumped out: “Hardly any preseason matches are played in Africa.”
The Athletic reports on Premier League plans for a pre-season U.S. tournament in 2025. The news comes shortly after the the Premier League has joined legal action against FIFA for risking footballers’ health by congesting the international fixture calendar. Elsewhere, The Athletic also reports on how these friendly matches may be a prelude to competitive domestic matches being played overseas.
Separately, this report contains a good run down of pre-season friendlies that have been affected by extreme weather in the US. In addition to those, the BBC reports that Real Madrid vs Barcelona was delayed due to lightning and torrential rain.
Other news
In no particular order …
Daniel Pena, founder of The Art of Football, writes for Pledgeball on How I Can Reduce My Carbon Footprint.
A new Black Boot Premier League Trophy has been announced for the 2024/25 season for outstanding contributions to football’s carbon footprint.
This Is What Life Could Be Like For A Football Fan In 2050 from Usbek & Rica.
Global Sustainable Sport looks at the environmental challenges of sports merchandise production.
As part of Sky Sports ‘Future of Football’ series, What does the future look like for stadium development? includes a focus on the sustainability challenge.
Research
FIFA-funded research in the British Journal of Sports Medicine finds that a 5 mins extension to half-time can further reduce thermal and cardiovascular strain in hot conditions, in addition to cooling breaks. However, “additional and/or more aggressive cooling strategies may be required in field settings or during play under more severe environmental heat stress”. (I’ve also added a section on ‘Extreme Heat’ to the Resources page).
An EU-funded Free Kicks Report provides recommendations for improving environmental sustainability supply chain governance among football organisations participating in the project. These recommendations can clearly also be applicable to many others in football.
Research in the Journal of Strategic Marketing identifies “the strong willingness to adopt green behaviours among football supporters, which football organizations and tourism actors should support.”
Players
Canadian Soccer Star Jessie Fleming Shows Athletes Can Lead On Climate by Vitas Carosella for Forbes.
Trees4Goals: A Sustainability Initiative Powered By Soccer. Looks at the campaign in Kenya led by amateur footballer, Lesein Mutunkei.
Bodies
The Ghana League Clubs Association is teaming up with others to launch a Green League to combat climate change. Clubs can collect points from sustaining their environment and potentially be financially rewarded.
Kent Green United, an initiative by the Kent FA, is encouraging grassroots clubs in the county to sign-up for activities, support and possible prizes.
Following on from the Olympics
Scientist and online educator, Simon Clark looks at the existential threat to the Olympics in this video.
In a Reuters article on mega-sports events, sports ecologist, Madeleine Orr says "These competitions need to be smaller". In a PwC Global Sports Survey 60% of respondents say in coming years major sports events will downsize and use more existing infrastructure.
Analysis on climate progress reporting by organisations generally
The FT on 'market-based' and 'location-based' emissions reporting, particularly in big-tech. The Science-Based Targets Initiative on carbon credits. Oxford Sustainable Finance Group on assessing dependencies in climate plans. A Nature Climate Change commentary on quantifying transition risks.
World Cups
2022
Josimar Football takes an in-depth and well-researched look at the environmental claims made by the tournament organisers, and the (lack of) delivery on them.
2026
“A World Cup in America in the middle of summer? Have they seen the weather?” - In The Athletic a senior AccuWeather meteorologist calls for climate change-driven issues to be treated as a priority by FIFA and for a conversation about the time of year the World Cup is held. Elsewhere, the IOC President has said climate change could affect the timing of future Olympics. Separately, the Sustainability Strategy for the 2026 World Cup, which was due to be published in 2023, is still to be released.
2030 and 2034
The bid books for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups have just been submitted to FIFA. For 2030 there are two bid books, one jointly from Morocco, Spain and Portugal (which hopes to host 101 games) and another jointly from Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay which is hoping to host the first 3 games and celebration events. The Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay is much shorter, reflecting a proportionately small role in the tournament. For 2034 there is one bid book from Saudi Arabia.
All bid books work to a standard section structure required by FIFA in its bidding process. They all include sections on ‘Sustainability and Human Rights’, though other sections of the bid books are also important to look at for sustainability-related information.
I’ve updated the resources page of this newsletter so you can find quick links to all the published bid book information.
Here are some initial observations on the bids, I’d welcome other and alternative insights …
World Cup 2030 Bid
Sustainability is mentioned in the ‘Vision and Strategy’ section of the Morocco, Spain and Portugal bid book as one of the four key pillars of the bid. The Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay includes reference to sustainable infrastructure and events in the value proposition included in it ‘vision and strategy’ section.
June to July is suggested as the hosting period by both bids. The Morocco, Spain and Portugal bid says “Match scheduling will be carefully planned to anticipate and mitigate any potential heat-related risks for both players and spectators”.
Host cities identified as having temperatures averaging 30°C or over in July include Fez (36°C), Marrakech (37°C), Madrid (32°C), Malaga (30°C), Zaragoza (32°C), Sevilla (36°C). Temperatures in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay are moderate during the proposed time of the year.
The carbon footprint forecast is estimated to be 3.5 million tons of CO2e in the Morocco, Spain and Portugal bid book. 78% of emissions are put down to ‘stakeholders travelling’. It is not clear whether these figures cover the part of the tournament in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay - which has no emissions figures in its bid book. The carbon footprint figures also do not appear to include any emissions from infrastructure projects (e.g. stadium and training facility building/regeneration).
In the Morocco, Spain and Portugal bid book four additional environmental reports are referenced in footnotes as informing the carbon footprint estimate and other sustainability points in the bid (on pgs.371-374) . However, these do not appear to have been released along with other bid documents.
A number of environmental initiatives are set out in Part E of both bid books but no targets for emissions reduction or other environmental targets for the tournament are included. Both sets of bid books say the bidders pan to become signatories of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.
The Morocco, Spain and Portugal bid book provides an environmental risk assessment. It is focussed on physical risks and does not include transition risks. Critical risks identified are: strain on the waste management value chain, and water scarcity impacting local populations and the smooth running of activities. Risks identified as significant include: significant GHG emissions; more extreme and unseasonal weather phenomena; and fluctuating usual temperatures leading to an increased use of air cooling.
World Cup 2034 Bid
Sustainability is not mentioned in the ‘Vision and Strategy’ section of the bid book. Four out of the five host cities are identified as having temperatures averaging 32°C or more in June and July with lower temperatures at other times of the year. The bidders say they are “committed to working closely with FIFA to consider all options and determine the most appropriate timing for the FIFA World Cup 2034™ to take place”. Separately, FIFA documentation says that “The timing of the Competition is a matter that is formally approved after the appointment of the host member association(s).”
No estimate is given for the carbon footprint of the tournament, there is no environmental risk assessment, and no plans to sign up to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. Emissions due to infrastructure projects are likely to be very high with many stadiums being built for it plus other projects, such as training facilities, needed. The bid book says that visitors to the tournament will travel between the five host cities primarily by air, rail, road, and bus. There is no breakdown of what the split may be. A number of environmental initiatives are set out in Part E of the bid book, but no environmental targets for the tournament are included.
Other analysis of the 2034 bid:
Inside World Football reports that the Saudi 2034 bid is under fire for its ‘mega polluting’ proposals. The report includes reference to new analysis by Fossil Free Football.
The Price of Football podcast includes discussion on the plans to build 11 stadiums for World Cup 2034 and the large environmental impact this will have.
That’s yer lot!
The newsletter has been on a slower cycle during the Summer period but will be gearing back up to a more regular pace as the new league season starts (and the school summer holidays end!).
As ever corrections, comments, suggestions for content, and proposals to write guest posts are welcome at any time!
Note: This version of the post has been updated to remove a story from the original post that was from August 2023 rather than August 2024 on Bolton and car sharing.
See you soon.
Fran James (he/him)
Football and Climate Change Newsletter
footballandclimatechange@gmail.com
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