News article
LOC invests in carbon-neutral offsets for women’s basketball showpiece
The local organising committee (LOC) for the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022, which concluded in early October in Sydney, Australia, has announced the purchase of equivalent CO2 offsets to ensure the event was effectively carbon neutral.
The LOC had previously outlined its ambition for the 19th edition of the tournament to be the most sustainable event to date, with a Sustainability Blueprint Framework created for future hosts of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) event.
Melissa King, the LOC’s Chief Executive, confirmed that the event created unavoidable emissions equivalent to 14,062 tonnes of CO2.
As a result, King added that the LOC had invested the required amount through verified carbon-offset projects to deliver a carbon-neutral event.
“We could not have achieved this without the contributions from ticket buyers, FIBA, the Australian Government, participating team delegations, our staff and volunteers,”
The event’s sustainability programme had three areas of focus – reducing environmental impacts, sourcing responsibly, and inspiring and educating.
Key achievements included 90% of attendees using the train to come to the games thanks to free travel provided by New South Wales Government as part of the ticketing programme, and 12 tonnes of material being recovered from the event’s total waste to be sent for recycling, upcycling or composting.
Ninety-five per cent of food packaging was certified compostable, while event-branding suppliers included a post-event disposal solution in their proposal, resulting in fabric banners being repurposed for new mattresses.
“FIBA is proud of this achievement and congratulates the LOC for setting such high standards in this area. Building on the blueprint and as a signatory of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sports for Climate Action initiative, we look forward to continuing this work and reducing our carbon footprint at future events.”
FIBA signed up to the UNFCCC in June 2020.
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