THE SPORTS, THE CLUBS, THE ATHLETES HAVE A HUGE POWER. ANYTHING THEY STAND FOR, THEY’RE LIKELY TO BRING FANSWITH THEM
The Playing for the Planet podcast was a lead-up to Sky’s Game Zero event, which aimed to be the first net zero carbon football match at an elite level. The September game, in which Tottenham faced off against Chelsea, aimed to reduce direct carbon emissions as much as possible, with the remainder offset through other projects targeted at removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Initiatives included encouraging fans to use public transport, as well as providing bikes for fan use, with plant-based food options available and a policy of ‘zero to landfill’ waste management. Chelsea asked its staff to travel across London to the Spurs ground sustainably, and both sets of players headed to the stadium on coaches run by biofuel – a renewable diesel made, in this instance, from food waste products, which emits about 60% the CO2 of regular diesel and far less sulphur and carbon monoxide. Biofuels made from waste products are greener than those from other sources. Growing crops for biofuels, for example, means less land used to grow food, which will be at a premium in the coming years, as well as destroying landscape which could absorb CO2 through forestry. In 2017, 177 scientists from the Netherlands wrote an open letter to the country’s economic affairs minister, saying: “We urgently implore you to acknowledge that blending food crops into fuel causes severe damage to climate, nature and communities.” For Sky’s Game Zero carbon offsetting, the company worked with Natural Capital Partners, a London specialist in climate finance and carbon neutrality strategies. Sky will support a community reforestation project in East Africa, as well as the creation of new UK native woodlands. Tottenham and Sky will also plant trees near the stadium later this year. “Offsetting is one of the later or last resorts,” says Garrido. “We’ve got to focus on reducing our carbon emissions. That’s the way you have a chance of averting the climate crisis. We have to change the way we consume.” In January 2021, Tottenham Hotspur was named the Premier League’s greenest club, after a study by the UN- backed Sport Positive Summit. The stadium is powered by 100% renewable energy with Zero Scope 2 emissions, with LED lighting (including floodlights) and high-efficiency building services systems in place to reduce energy use. GET YOUR GAME ZERO FACE ON
crushers attached to the wall, where you could crumple aluminium cans, to take up less space. We weren’t allowed to put the can straight in the recycling, we had to crush it first! In recent years, my parents and sister got electric cars. “I was very driven by the notion of purpose in my career. It was something nagging away at me that I had to address. Everything started crystallising over lockdown, and I realised I needed to be part of the conversation.” Garrido then participated in the climate change training being rolled out across Sky departments, which brought home the extent of the environmental catastrophe. “It made me realise not just the scale of the crisis, but the opportunity that sport had to do something about it.” Sky Sports is part of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. Signatories commit to:
1.
Undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility
2. Reduce overall climate impact 3. Educate for climate action 4. Promote sustainable and responsible consumption 5. Advocate for climate action through communication
communication
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