Sport and sustainability

The ambitions of the European Green Deal, including carbon neutrality by 2050, can only be reached if all parts of society are actively involved in tackling the challenges head on. Sport is no exception.

Thanks to its mass appeal, sport is in a unique position to help raise awareness and be a driver of environmental sustainability.

Even though the importance of environmental sustainability has risen across the sport sector in recent years, much more needs to be done.  

The policies and actions of decision-makers in EU Member States, international and national sport federations, professional and grassroots sport clubs, the fitness sector, the sporting goods industry, the sport tourism sector but also consumers, leisure athletes, and not least fans, have a significant impact on the climate and the environment.

Green Sport expert group report

The Green Sport Expert Group, established by the EU Work Plan for Sport 2021-2024, compiled a report (“playbook”) with recommendations for environmentally sustainable sports.

The expert group was composed of representatives from EU Member States, complemented by

• observers from the world of sport
• institutions such as the European Environment Agency and the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Key recommendations

The result is a comprehensive analysis and a set of recommendations that policymakers and sport practitioners should apply to stimulate the reach for more environmental sustainability in and through sports.

In particular, Member States

• are invited to develop national sustainable sport strategies
• are advised to make public funding to sport national governing bodies conditional on the delivery of sustainability objectives

Sports organisations are called upon to

• establish a baseline carbon footprint for their sport
• come up with environmental sustainability plans as part of the development strategy for their sport