Supporting global sports organisations to increase ambition and action on climate change
Tony Stevens and Tim Greenwell of Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC discuss their strategies to become more sustainable organisations, alongside Sport Positive founder Claire Poole.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club came first in this year’s EPL Sustainability Table, published by the UN-backed Sport Positive Summit, which ranks the UK Premier League’s most environmentally committed football clubs. EURACTIV France reports.
La BBC a publié son second rapport sur la place de l’écologie dans les clubs de football anglais de première division. Ex-aequo avec Arsenal et les deux clubs de Manchester en 2019, Tottenham prend seul la tête du classement en 2020 et est élu club le plus écologique de Premier League.
The B. League’s Nagoya Diamond Dolphins have become the first top-tier professional Japanese sports club to sign on to a climate change initiative spearheaded by the United Nations, joining a growing movement of sports teams tackling social issues in their community and beyond.
The U.N. platform, called the Sports for Climate Action Framework, is part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) initiatives.
The initiative calls on sports teams and organizations from around the world to take leadership in the fight against climate change and undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility as well as reduce climate impact.
Prominent names on the list of nearly 200 participants include FIBA, FIFA, the NBA, the New York Yankees and Spain’s La Liga. The International Olympic Committee is also on board, as are organizing committees of the Tokyo and Paris Games.
The Diamond Dolphins signed on in late December, representing a recent push by Japanese teams to institute sustainable development goals (SDGs) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs within their organizations.
“Climate change is a pressing issue to our club as well and it is an extremely meaningful opportunity for us to tackle a global-scale issue along with some of the world’s biggest organizations,” Diamond Dolphins president Yuki Yamashita said in a statement.
Written by By Philipp Grüll | EURACTIV.de
February 08, 2021
To achieve the UN climate targets, it is not enough for companies or associations to operate more sustainably. What is needed is a rethink among the general population. Claire Poole is convinced that sports can play an important role, which is why she organises the annual Sports Positive Summit. In this interview with EURACTIV Germany, she explains her vision.
Claire Poole is the founder and CEO of Sport Positive Summit, an event agency for a conference on sport and sustainability. She is pursuing other projects in this area under the Sport Positive brand.
Ms Poole, what exactly is the Sport Positive Summit?
An annual event where we bring together people from around the world who want to make sport more sustainable. We collaborate with UN Climate Action and the International Olympic Committee on this Summit, but we also run other projects and actions under the Sport Positive brand.
What is the goal of your organisation?
Our overarching goal is to unleash the potential of sport for climate action. When we started our work, there was already work happening globally, but in a more sporadic and localised way: sports organisations might offer regionally sourced catering, or encourage greater use of public transportation, and so on, but learnings weren’t necessarily exchanged globally. So the goal of knowledge transfer is high on our agenda, as well as encouraging sports fans towards positive environmental behaviours.
By Philipp Grüll | EURACTIV.de
To achieve the UN climate targets, it is not enough for companies or associations to operate more sustainably. What is needed is a rethink among the general population. Claire Poole is convinced that sports can play an important role, which is why she organises the annual Sports Positive Summit. In this interview with EURACTIV Germany, she explains her vision.
Claire Poole is the founder and CEO of Sport Positive Summit, an event agency for a conference on sport and sustainability. She is pursuing other projects in this area under the Sport Positive brand.
Ms Poole, what exactly is the Sport Positive Summit?
An annual event where we bring together people from around the world who want to make sport more sustainable. We collaborate with UN Climate Action and the International Olympic Committee on this Summit, but we also run other projects and actions under the Sport Positive brand.
What is the goal of your organisation?
Our overarching goal is to unleash the potential of sport for climate action. When we started our work, there was already work happening globally, but in a more sporadic and localised way: sports organisations might offer regionally sourced catering, or encourage greater use of public transportation, and so on, but learnings weren’t necessarily exchanged globally. So the goal of knowledge transfer is high on our agenda, as well as encouraging sports fans towards positive environmental behaviours.
On Sky Sports News Transfer Deadline Day coverage, 1 February 2020, David Garrido highlighted the Sport Positive EPL Sustainability Table 2020 and gave examples of the great environmental work the clubs at the top of the league are doing.
NO DOUBT you will have heard about the financial rankings of the top clubs of Europe this week. Spoiler alert; the rich and famous of Europe’s football elite will probably survive the impact Covid-19 has had on their earnings.
Not reported as much, but probably far more important, was the publication of the sustainability league table of Premier League clubs which was also announced this week.
By David Lockwood BBC Sport
Tottenham are the greenest Premier League club, coming top of a table measuring the sustainability of all 20 top-flight sides.
Spurs claimed maximum points in The Green League for 2020, due in part to Monday’s announcement that they have signed up to the United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action framework.
“Looking to our future beyond the current pandemic, our message is that the climate needs to be at forefront of all our minds,” said Spurs chairman Daniel Levy.
“We have seen people take greater pride in their environment during the lockdowns of the past year. When we return to normality, we cannot slip back into bad habits and lose sight of this.”
What is the sustainability table?
First published in 2019 by BBC Sport and the United Nations-backed Sport Positive Summit, the rankings have been updated along with the criteria and methodology.
Teams have been asked to provide evidence of efforts in eight categories. There are more points available in each category this year and three bonus points, making a total of 21.
25 January 2021, London For the second time, Sport Positive has systematically collated key environmental sustainability information for every Premier League football club into a table matrix. The categories reflect the environmental impacts of putting on a football match, and initiatives that are under way at clubs, put together in an easy and digestible format.
For the 2020 update, an enhanced points system has been introduced, awarding more points to clubs that are working strategically across all club operations, that engage with fans and encourage positive behavioural change and that show long term commitment to combatting climate change. Sport Positive would like to thank Associate Professor Brian McCullough of Texas A&M University for his input to this update.
