Welcome
The impact and influence that governing bodies, clubs, athletes and fans have on the environment should not be understated.
The 2022 Qatar World Cup Final reached a global audience of 1.5 billion viewers and is estimated to have generated as much as 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide – an amount similar to the annual emissions of Armenia.
In light of this, governing bodies, clubs – and indeed, fans – shouldn’t ignore the need to reduce their impact on the environment. With the enormous platform and reach that sport enjoys, there’s a huge opportunity for sports organisations to affect change and push for greener practices, both within sports and outside of it too.
But how much is the sector prioritising sustainability? Public opinion suggests that the sector has plenty of money to adopt sustainable habits quickly – but is this really the case? What are the obstacles preventing positive change? What sort of partnerships or sponsorships should governing bodies and clubs be aware of? And can clubs really influence their fans to make better choices in their own lives?
To answer these questions, we’ve brought experts from across the industry together in a roundtable discussion. This report includes thoughts from:
- Russell Seymour, Chair of British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS)
- Claire Poole, Founder of Sport Positive
- Barney Weston, Co-Director of Football for Future
- Michelle Leavesley, Vice President of Warwickshire County Cricket Club
- Rachel Dulai, Events Director at British Rowing
- Richard Batley, Head of Health, Safety and Environment for England Rugby at Twickenham Stadium
- David Hewins, Head of Facilities for England Rugby at Twickenham Stadium
- Mark Fairbrother, Director of Finance at Millwall Football Club
- Marc Hope, Founder of the Winning Tape Sports Agency
- Ted Powell, Solicitor and Sports expert, Irwin Mitchell
- Erica Ives, Associate and Planning and Environment expert, Irwin Mitchell
- Claire Petricca-Riding, Partner and Head of the Planning and Environment Team, Irwin Mitchell.
I hope you find this summary report useful. If you have any questions, or want to talk about it in more detail, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Tom Barnard
Partner and Head of Irwin Mitchell’s Sports Sector Group
Ted Powell
Solicitor, Irwin Mitchell’s Sports Sector Group
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