News article
This week: Real Betis, Cricket Australia, World Athletics…
Also in the news: Edgbaston, Irish Football Association and more…
Edgbaston’s Go Green Game, a sustainable international cricket match held in September last year, cut carbon emissions by more than a third, according to a report. A forecast of the climate impact of the Twenty20 contest between England and New Zealand had projected a footprint of 494 tonnes of CO2. However, the final figure was much lower: 327.79 tonnes. The forecast, reduction planning and reconciliation report were carried out by climate action specialists Net Zero Now.
Spanish LaLiga football club Real Betis Balompié has launched a sustainable mobility plan. The project has been developed in collaboration with Mobility Friendly and Forever Green, the club’s sustainability platform. The move is an effort to inspire fans to make a more ecological and efficient journey to events at Benito Villamarín Stadium.
Cricket Australia has teamed up with captain Pat Cummins’ Cricket for Climate to install solar panels at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane. The system will provide roughly 285kW of power, which equates to around half the centre’s energy requirements.
See below for an aerial view…
The Irish Football Association’s environmental credentials have been recognised in the 2023 Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey, in which it achieved bronze level. The recognition follows the Irish FA launching its first sustainability strategy last year, which focuses on health and wellbeing, safeguarding, equality and inclusion, anti-racism and anti-sectarianism, and climate.
Xiamen played host to the first ever day-long sport and sustainability forum in China – the Road Races Sustainability Forum. The event was part of the fifth China Marathon Expo & Fujian Road Running Industry Expo, which accompanied the Xiamen Marathon. Nearly 350 guests attended the forum, which was the first all-day event dedicated to sustainability organised by a World Athletics Label Race.
Formula 1 has announced that the Spanish Grand Prix will be held in Madrid from 2026 to 2035, featuring an all-new circuit that will incorporate street and non-street sections. Held at and around the vast IFEMA Madrid venue, organisers have claimed that the plan is to make the grand prix weekend one of the most sustainable events on the calendar. However, some observers have pointed out that the Barcelona circuit, which has been knocked off the calendar accordingly, was one of the most sustainable in F1.
Netball South Africa recently announced the launch of the Netball South Africa Investment Group, which will act as a dedicated entity with a mission to grow the participation and commercialisation of netball in the country.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, hosted a Zero Waste Game Day during the 2023 college football season, with the results showing 139,250 pounds of recyclables collected; 11,000 pounds of food composted and 37,580 pounds of food donated to local food banks; and over 184 tonnes of waste diverted from landfill.
Video courtesy of Cricket Australia – edited for size.