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With climate change affecting all aspects of society and impacting rugby communities around the world, World Rugby is taking the relevant steps to minimise negative impacts while adopting positive actions. The Environmental Sustainability Plan 2030 is a tangible roadmap for tackling environmental issues, setting out what World Rugby believes its sport can and should do to contribute to a more sustainable society.

All the commitments presented apply to World Rugby’s three spheres of responsibility: as an organisation (daily activities), as an owner of major events (Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup Sevens and other tournaments), and as part of its leadership role as the International Federation that governs, supports and looks to inspire its 132 national federations, six regional associations and other stakeholders from the international rugby family across the globe.

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Background:

Formula E is a single-seater electric car racing series and it holds FIA world championship status starting in 2020. Developed by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish billionaire Alejandro Agag, who is also the current chairman of Formula E Holdings, the series aims to reduce the carbon-dioxide emissions within the racing industry.

Formula E represents an innovation in the motorsport industry, as they are the first electric street racing series.

Supporting Elements:

Airly partnered with Formula E over the course of the Berlin E-Prix weekend in August 2021.

Airly provided a number of air quality monitors to Formula E for their 2021 Berlin E-Prix. These monitors measured real time concentrations of particulate matter and gases (NO2 and O3).

These monitors were installed around Templehof Airport Street Circuit in a number of areas, in hospitality tents, in several of the garages for teams and around the track.

The data that the sensors collected was then fed to fans live via the Formula E app and around several screens which were located at the event in an effort to educate and engage fans.

Results and Benefits:

It highlighted the importance of mapping our air pollution and the necessity of monitoring in order to understand when pollution exceeds safe limits.

This formed part of Formula E’s wider ambitions to draw attention to air pollution and advance innovations in sustainability. It was also timed alongside the UN’s International Day of Clean Air. Electric vehicles, which are a core part of Formula E’s DNA, are a significant way to contribute to reducing air pollution.

The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has introduced a practical guidebook which provides guidance and support to FIA stakeholders and members to increase their sustainability performance in delivering events.
The “FIA Introductory Guide for Sustainable Events” has been designed to provide event organisers with the technical support and guidance to identify simple and clear actions for improving their sustainability performance. The focus is on small actions that can lead to significant changes allowing for a practical approach that can be applied to events of all sizes.
The guidelines are also in close alignment with the requirements of the FIA’s Environmental Accreditation Programme.
The application of the guidelines is meant to lead the user to achieve a two-star level, the second of a three-tiered accreditation system.The guidelines are structured around six key impact areas:

• Energy use. Including identifying the sources, measuring use and targeting.
• Air Quality & Transport. Commonly considered the main source of emissions, the attention is centered on reductions and efficiency.
• Waste Management. Focusing on reducing, reusing and recycle in order to build a successful waste management plan.
• Water & Biodiversity. Providing access to fresh drinking water to participants and preventing any potential harm or disruption to natural habitats while protecting and educating on its importance.
• Supply Chain. By recognising the power over the supply chain, organisers can align with suppliers and sponsors that follow the sustainable vision of the event.
• Social Responsibility. Driving social and economic benefit to local and regional communities, involving its people, businesses and authorities.

BENEFITS

• The creation of guidelines for sustainable events can serve both externally and internally, guiding the organisation of all types of events in a more sustainable way.
• Having a guide for sustainable events can serve as an entry point for more advanced programs, such as the FIA Accreditation programme, driving both awareness and practical action points.
• FIA can share the environmental awareness in a user-friendly way which helps the FIA to fulfil its required goals and environmental targets.

Click here to download the case study

The IOC is committed to building a better world through sport. As outlined in Olympic Agenda 2020+5 and its Sustainability Strategy, the IOC follows a responsible sourcing approach by which the sourcing of its products and services is carried out with environmental, social and ethical considerations in mind.
Through this approach, the IOC aims to prevent value chain-related risks, while using its influence to promote higher levels of environmental and social responsibility across its value chain. Our approach to responsible sourcing consists of the following three pillars:

1. Policy Framework
2. Due diligence process
3. Ongoing remediation

The Carbon Fibre Circular Demonstration Project is a multi-sport collaboration with the aim of engaging with equipment end users.

The Carbon Fibre Circular Demonstration Project is being run by the World Sailing Trust, the charitable organisation affiliated to World Sailing, as part of their Planet key focus area, ensuring sailing has a lasting positive impact and that the planet’s waters are protected and safeguarded.

Supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), multi-sport collaboration has been a key driver of this project – across both International Federations and sports equipment manufacturers with the aim of engaging with equipment end users.

Working with World Sailing and the International Biathlon Union, supported by Wilson Sporting Goods, the alliance includes International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as well as sports equipment manufacturers Starboard, SCOTT Sports and OneWay, who are collaborating to support an innovative and disruptive programme based on the reuse of carbon components within the sports sector.

The alliance is working with Technical Lead Lineat Composites with assistance from the research department of the University of Bristol based at the National Composite Centre in Bristol, on a demonstration project to show how it is possible to reclaim broken/failed carbon components from a particular sports sector through a novel reclamation process that realigns the fibres into uni-directional prepreg tapes utilising the innovative HiPerDiF process system.

New technical carbon tapes will then be supplied to component manufacturers within the alliance to integrate into new technical components for reuse. A typical example would take a broken carbon bike component and utilise the fibres to make new tapes and use them in a second life in a carbon ski pole, a sailing component, or a tennis racket.

Carbon fibre is a high performing material used in a variety of industries. Weight and strength properties have resulted in the material being widely used in sport equipment, especially in elite level competition. The use of the material is growing, and sport represents the third largest user of the material behind aerospace and the wind turbine industry.

However, carbon fibre cannot be remelted and recycled like aluminium and, to date, no sustainable end of life solution has been available for carbon fibre.

The project looks at taking the broken component, realigning its fibres, and then reusing that carbon fibre to make a new component. The process, not dissimilar to a high-tech paper making process, produces carbon fibre tape that early results from this demonstration project show are, in some cases, better than the original virgin fibre.

The manual R&D machine based at the National Composite Centre allows Lineat Composites and the research team from the University of Bristol, to align carbon fibres manually, but the machine in next stage of the process will allow Lineat to commercialise and align around 80 billion fibres daily, which when placed in a line will go around the world three times.

Dee Caffari, Chair of the World Sailing Trust, comments:

“Collaboration and alliance has been a key driver in this project. We know that sport generally has a very high use of carbon-fibre, particularly within the high-end performance sport. However, the usage of carbon-fibre in some other industries is even greater. This demonstration project has been a first step and we are now keen to join with other sports and other industries to develop the next stage of this process.”

Sky published a case study revealing that Game Zero, our Premier League match against Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in September, achieved net zero carbon emissions.

The Club and Sky, working alongside independent carbon specialists RSK and Natural Capital Partners, set the target of hosting the world’s first net zero carbon football game at an elite level, while also aiming to inspire fans to reduce their own carbon footprint.

Net zero was achieved by first measuring the baseline emissions of a match held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium then lowering those emissions as much as possible and offsetting any that could not be reduced with the support of Natural Capital Partners, through a community reforestation project in East Africa, which removes carbon emissions from the atmosphere.

How emissions from Game Zero were reduced:

• Players arrived at the stadium on coaches powered by green biodiesel which helped lower squad travel emissions by over 80 per cent.
• Fans walked 36,000 miles and drove 225,000 miles in electric or hybrid cars to and from the game.
• Everything at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium (including heating and cooking) is powered by 100 per cent renewable energy – electricity and green gas.
• All food served inside the stadium is locally and sustainably sourced with 94 per cent more vegetarian and plant-based meals sold at this match, compared to the baseline game.
• Sky achieved a 70 per cent reduction in emissions from the Sky Sports production crew covering the match.

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur, said: “We are extremely proud to have been involved with Game Zero, working alongside Sky to utilise our collective platforms and show leadership on a key issue that is affecting us all. We thank our fans for their support of the initiative and taking such positive actions around the matchday. It is important to note that none of the measures that were implemented around Game Zero were a one-off – we continue to assess all of our operations and identify ways to reduce our carbon footprint as a Club moving forward.”

Jonathan Licht, Managing Director at Sky Sports, said: “We hope that Game Zero is the first of many major net zero carbon sporting events and will inspire long-term change. At Sky Sports, we’re committed to minimise our impact on the environment and use the power of sport for good.

By sharing our findings, we want to inspire football clubs, sports organisations, athletes and fans across the world to reduce their own carbon impact.”

Ahead of Game Zero, Sky worked with carbon accounting specialists RSK to measure the carbon emissions created by a Premier League match held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, helping to determine reduction opportunities, highlight the more difficult emission sources and track progress.

Creating a baseline enabled the Club and Sky to assess easy wins and tougher challenges of achieving net zero. This universal formula can now be used again and again to consistently measure and reduce carbon emissions at major events.

Sky worked with long-term partner Natural Capital Partners, the leading experts on carbon neutrality and climate finance to offset Game Zero’s remaining emissions through a VCS and CCBA verified community reforestation project in East Africa.

The project supports smallholder farmers to source, grow, plant and nurture native and productive trees on their land, which remove carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, and provide alternative sources of nutrition and livelihoods to the farmers.

Last week, Davinson Sanchez joined children from Rowland Hill Nursery School to help plant trees donated by the Club and Sky on a green space nearby Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A mixture of American Sweetgum, False Acacia and Silver Birch are now in place at a site identified by Friends of the Earth and Haringey Council on White Hart Lane.

Passionate About Our Planet

Tottenham Hotspur was named the Premier League’s greenest club following a study carried out by the UN-backed Sport Positive Summit, with a range of sustainable measures implemented across our operations, including:

• 100 per cent renewable energy and Zero Scope 2 emissions at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with LED lighting (including floodlights) and high efficiency building services systems in place to reduce energy use.
• A ‘zero to landfill’ waste management programme, with clear recycling instructions for fans on its bins, as well as a reusable beer cup scheme.
• Single-use plastic reduction measures in place across the Club – players drink water from cartons, food is served in recyclable packaging with wooden cutlery, and even beer keg caps are recycled at the stadium.
• All food served inside the stadium is locally and sustainably sourced, with plant-based options available across all outlets and in Premium areas.
• Significant investment into our local transport infrastructure with the stadium served by four train stations and a free matchday shuttle bus. There is also provision for 180 bikes to be parked nearby the stadium, with our security policy allowing for equipment such as helmets, puncture kits and removable seats to be taken into the stadium.
• Water consumption minimised with waterless urinals and low flow fittings and fixtures.
• An ecological habitat established at our Training Centre, including an organic Kitchen Garden; hundreds of new and semi-mature trees and tens of thousands of new plants and hedgerows; bug hotels and bat houses; wildlife ponds; green roofs to capture and re-harvest rainwater; solar panels and air source heat pumps.
• The Nike shirts that players wear on the pitch and the replica jerseys for fans to buy are constructed with 100 per cent recycled polyester fabric, which is made from recycled plastic bottles.

We are a proud signatory of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, which calls on sporting organisations to acknowledge the contribution of the sports industry on climate change and a collective responsibility to strive towards climate neutrality for a safer planet.

Alongside Sky, the Club is also a founding partner of Count Us In – an unprecedented global movement aiming to mobilise one billion people to act on climate change – a member of the British Association for Sustainable Sports (BASIS) and the first sports team to become a member of Products of Change – a global educational hub aimed at driving sustainable change across consumer product markets and beyond.

Our Official Battery Technology Partner, VivoPower International PLC, has completed feasibility studies to assess initial opportunities for sustainable energy solutions at both Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the Club’s Hotspur Way Training Centre in Enfield. The Club and VivoPower are now exploring the potential of moving forward with the implementation of one or more SES projects.

For further information, please visit the dedicated Passionate About Our Planet page.

GOALS is a project funded by EU Commission through the ERASMUS+ Sport Programme, that aims at improving the environmental governance in football organizations.

The project is aimed primarily at women and youth football teams with the aim of improving the environmental impact of clubs and football matches. GOALS aims to increase their environmental awareness and promote the adoption of more environmentally friendly behaviors. The project also intends to strengthen cooperation between institutions and sport organizations boosting the adoption and the implementation of environmental governance actions.

To these ends, GOALS will develop organizational tools for the three National Football Associations involved - Romanian, Portuguese and Kosovar - to improve their environmental governance. The project also focuses on operational governance through the involvement of at least 9 grassroots football clubs, 3 for each of the countries involved. In addition to the calculation of the environmental footprint of the clubs participating in the project, GOALS will provide an intuitive online tool to support football organizations in the calculation of their Environmental Footprint applying the European methodology on footprint (Recommendation 2013/179 / EU).

The project is coordinated by Sant’ Anna School of Advanced Studies, that has extensive experience in environmental management activities and environmental footprint assessment.

The project Consortium includes, in addition to the three participating Federations, Real Betis Balompié - the professional team of the Spanish Lega - and the international association ESSMA (European Stadium & Safety Management Association). This network comprises over 350 members that will contribute through communication, networking and replication activities, dissemination of project outputs and stakeholders’ engagement from the European world of football. Moreover, GOALS is supported by UEFA and by the Football Association of Ireland.

Project partners: Portugal Football Federation (FPF)Real Betis Balompié Foundation, Romanian Football Federation (FRF), Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK), European Stadium & Safety Management Association (ESSMA)

Project duration: 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2023

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has introduced the IBU’s Sustainability Strategy with a bold plan to balance the social, economic and environmental impact of the sport of biathlon. The Strategy follows a profound process which began following the approval of the new IBU Constitution and strategic plan called “Target 26” in October 2019.
The new strategy triggered a process for future proofing and progressing the sport recognising sustainability as a key priority in Target 26 and climate change as direct and urgent threat to the sport of Biathlon.
In the interest of maximising stakeholder buy-in through the process, IBU involved all key stakeholders in this strategic process including the National Federations (NFs), staff, athletes, organising committees, commercial partners, media, and fans. This is also in line with ISO 20121 standard’s core requirements for sustainable management, which the IBU aspires to follow.
The IBU’s Sustainability Strategy was designed around five focus areas:

• Climate. IBU has committed to reduce its footprint 45% and become climate neutral by 2030 and climate positive by 2034, covering both IBU as an organisation and its own events. The main areas considered are travel and transport, energy consumption, food & beverage and snow management.
• Venue & Event. Biathlon venues and events are to have a long-term positive impact on their communities considering all activities and including the ban of single-use plastics and ensuring that all waste is re-used, recycled or composted.
• Sport. Ensure the sport has a minimal impact on the environment in particular to air, water and soil. This comprises, among others, a ban on chemical substances (such as the recent ban on fluorinated wax), minimising the use of resources on snow management, efficient uses of energy and keeping up with latest developments in salting and equipment.
• People. Leading by example on the forefront of better governance standards including gender equality and diversity. By focusing on structural strategies, IBU aims at making biathlon a youth and mass participation sport, mass participation, sport that includes and supports athletes at every level from grassroots to those who wish to combine the sport with a career.
• Communication and Awareness.
  Amplifying the message by advocating for climate action and supporting sustainable development both within the sport and all other winter sports.
  The IBU is determined to take a strong stance on making Biathlon an increasingly balanced and conscious sport on their impact on climate change, communities in which it operates its games, and its people.

BENEFITS

• By having a clear and thorough sustainability strategy, a federation can define the vision and align all stakeholders across its spheres of influence.
• The definition of what sustainability means to an organisation cannot be taken for granted. By establishing at an organisational level what is encompassed within that concept allows for a clear path for better planning and execution.
• The inclusion of all stakeholders in the making of the strategy aligns the goals and can lead to a stronger long-term buy-in.

Click here to download the case study

Created by the 11th Hour Racing Team, for the benefit of the wider community, a series of eight How to Guides and Case Studies are part of the TOOLBOX which is designed to make sustainability accessible for any organisation.

The eight Case studies relate respectively to :

• How to start your program
• How to create a policy
• How to engage stakeholders
• How to identify issues
• How to set targets
• How to plan and implement
• How to assess progress
• How to report and communicate

Click here to access the case studies list

LIFE TACKLE is a project co-financed by the European Union aiming at improving the environmental management of football matches and the overall level of awareness and attention towards environmental issues in the football sector, engaging its most relevant stakeholders – National Football Associations (NFAs), Football Clubs, Stadiums managers and Supporters.

Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies leads this project, and is assisted by a consortium of entities including ACR+ (Belgium), AMU Genova S.p.A (Italy), EURACTIV.COM LTD (UK), the Italian National Football Association (Italy), the Romanian National Football Association (Romania), LIPOR (Portugal) and the Swedish National Football Association (Sweden)