Financial Implications for Grassroots Sport
A new report commissioned by the UK Government has been published
A new report commissioned for the UK Government identifies a £320 million annual financial impact on grassroots sport due to adverse and extreme weather events. It also says that other further costs, not captured in this assessment, are “likely to be large”.
Under the central model used in the report, impacts could rise by between £95 million and £190 million per year depending on the extent of further climate change. Under one of the other alternative models also presented in the report, the current financial impacts may actually be as high as £835m and potentially rise much further with more climate change. Alongside this the report identifies annual emissions from grassroots sport of between 3 to 4 million tCO2e.
The report, Exploring the financial implications of climate change on grassroots sport by Alma Economics for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport was published last Friday. It looks at both the impact of the grassroots sport sector on the environment, and also the impact of climate change on the grassroots sport sector.
The report is an important development. It is the first report I am aware of commissioned by any Government to attempt to quantify these financial impacts. The report also sets out impacts on sports facilities and participants as well as the financial impacts. It identifies long-term outcomes including reduced participation in sport, and people become less active and less healthy. It says that “Certain sports might not survive”, that adverse weather causing financial unsustainability could mean “Sports clubs become unable to survive financially” and also that “If no action is taken, grassroots sport risks becoming elitist.”
At the same time, the report acknowledges that the figures it uses are likely to be conservative, and further research is needed1. Alongside this the report recommends the development of a “climate risk index is a tool used to assess the level of vulnerability and exposure of grassroots clubs to climate-related hazards”2. The authors note that “the carbon footprint and financial model could be extended to include further climate and financial impacts and sport types … [and also] … “a deeper dive into specific sports could provide more detailed insights”. This is a recommendation that would seem particularly important to take forward in football, with its position as our most popular sport.
Elsewhere the report says that “there are likely a host of additional channels through which climate change and adverse weather are affecting sports clubs throughout the country. A major cost to clubs both now and in the future will be investments to mitigate against the impact of weather and ensure their facilities can remain usable into the future. The model was not able to capture this due to the heterogeneous nature of such investments and the lack of data. The costs are, however, likely to be large”.
The report notes that without further action community sport clubs will struggle to absorb the financial burden, forcing up membership fees and making grassroots sport less accessible. Alongside this, sports National Governing Bodies “are now seeing an increase in funding requests to deal with climate change impacts”. These findings in the report lead to important questions about whether current approaches to climate change by national governing bodies in sport are enough, and who and how responses to climate change will be funded.
The most recent UK Government Sports Strategy, published in August 2023 under the last administration, included an action to “identify the support needed to help the sector adapt in the long-term”, but no update on its progress was published. The current Government is yet to set out its approach to sport and environmental sustainability. As a contrast, the French Ministry of Sports, Youth and Community Life has published A national plan to adapt sports practices to climate change (albeit with no financial assessments)3.
So far football’s governing bodies have not paid much attention to the impacts of climate change on football and appear to have made no assessment of the financial impacts now or in the future4. Alongside this, The Football Foundation, the organisation which channels funding from the Premier League, The FA and the Government to grassroots football, does not appear to have a strategy or objectives in relation to environmental sustainability. This report on financial implications also comes soon after the Government rejected cross-party calls for the new Independent Football Regulator to be able to consider the financial impacts of climate change on elite men's football in England.
This report is released against a backdrop of the Committee on Climate Change saying in April that "The UK’s preparations for climate change are inadequate" and there is a need to "Implement monitoring, evaluation and learning across all sectors." This report, while focussed on the impacts of climate change on grassroots sport, also has important insights and implications for elite sport too. In addition, it provides important analysis and action needed in relation to reducing emissions within the sector.
It sets the scene for further work that is needed urgently in the UK, and should also be a wake-up call to international governing bodies including UEFA and FIFA that have important gaps of their own in understanding and action on these issues. As a parent who has seen their son’s youth football matches in South London postponed due to weather impacts too many times (and a few go ahead that more resembled mud-wrestling), more action can’t come soon enough.
Fran
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One further query I had is whether the analysis uses the most up-to-date Environmental Agency data on flood risk published earlier this year which shows significantly revised and increased risks of flooding. This new data does not appear to be available at the ‘MSOA” level meaning that it may not have been used here. This could also form part of the further research needed that is recommended by the authors.
Similarly, in a submission to a recent House of Commons Select Committee Inquiry on Grassroots Sport, by this newsletter, a recommendation was made that “Government works with key partners to consider how to incorporate local-level climate data into local sports plans and strategies”, noting also the opportunity to build on Local Football Facility Plans and local authority Playing Pitch Strategies
Elsewhere, Sport England has recently set out related research questions it would welcome further work on and Sport England’s 2024 Every Move - Sustainability Strategy and Action Plan has as one of its key themes: “Adapting to climate change and extreme weather events”. It commits, by March 2027, to “co-develop with the sector a climate adaptation and resilience vision for the sector, supported by a delivery strategy”. This is to be welcomed, though seems somewhat far off.
The FA Sustainability Strategy does not cover climate adaptation plans. The FA Grassroots Strategy includes one passing mention of adverse weather, and says elsewhere the FA will “improve environmental sustainability”, with little further explanation of how. The FA 2023/24 Accounts identified two physical climate risks and said “We are exploring a data-driven project on the impact of weather in 2024-25.” The Premier League Environmental Strategy is focussed on climate mitigation with passing references to the impacts of climate on football.
Nice to have you back, Fran! :)