European Club Association establishes Football Clubs Alliance for Climate

ECA recently delivered a conference change at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, demonstrating work already undertaken by clubs across the continent. The conference was presented by the COP29 Presidency and co-hosted by ECA Member Club, Azerbaijan’s Qarabağ FK.

The Association’s own recently published Sustainability Strategy has seen it invest in two programmes: the Clean and Efficient Cookstoves initiatives for Rohingya refugees, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions while helping to alleviate poverty; and Greentech’s Emissions Reductions from PET Recycling in Romania, which is the first Gold Standard Certified project of this kind in Europe. This is expected to save over 45,380 tonnes of CO2 each year.

“At COP29, ECA acknowledges our responsibility to play an active role in combating the climate crisis. We’ve recently published our first Sustainability Strategy and committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 30% per member by 2030,” said Charlie Marshall, Chief Executive of ECA.

“ECA’s real impact lies in our ability to support our members in implementing strategies to reduce their carbon footprints. This is why we are here today: to launch the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate. Through this alliance and our collaboration with the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action initiative, we are committed to supporting our clubs every step of the way in their climate action journey.”

The conference also featured the formal signing of a Declaration establishing the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate. Signatories included Spain’s Atlético de Madrid and Real Betis Balompié, Turkey’s Fenerbahçe SK and Galatasaray SK, Brazil’s CR Flamengo, English Premier League sides Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur, Sweden’s Malmö FF, Portuguese club FC Porto and Italy’s Udinese Calcio.

“As we launch the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate, we are committing to the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework with the aim of inspiring football clubs across Europe and worldwide to take meaningful climate action,” said Niclas Carlnén, ECA Board Member from Malmö FF and Lead of the ECA Sustainability Working Group.

Asif Asgarov, ECA Board Member from Qarabağ FK, added: “Qarabağ FK is delighted to have played a decisive role in bringing together ECA Member Clubs to sign the first-ever Football Clubs Alliance for Climate. Today, the clubs gathered are acting as role models for the rest of the football world as we make a stand and take important collective action which seeks to encourage other clubs to join our collective fight against climate change.”

Aside from establishing the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate, the conference also featured presentations from Atlético de Madrid, Porto FC and Liverpool FC, as well as panel discussions with Real Betis Balompié, Tottenham Hotspur and Udinese Calcio, and ECA’s sustainability team and UNFCCC’s Lindita Xhaferi-Salihu.

Image: Zach Rowlandson on Unsplash