The biggest barrier? A lack of funding or resources, cited by 48% of organisations.

In an exclusive interview with Global Sustainable Sport, Olivia Albrecht, CEO of Artemeter, explained that: “Sports clubs tend to run cash neutral. They often operate with such tight budgets that sustainability can fall down the list of leadership priorities unless there’s a clear business case or external funding mechanism.”

Into this challenging landscape steps a new strategic partnership between Abatable, a leading carbon procurement and intelligence platform, and Artemeter, a carbon investment manager and advisory firm. Their joint aim is to accelerate decarbonisation across the global sports and entertainment industries, a sector with a vast environmental footprint estimated at roughly 400 million metric tons of CO2 annually. Their solution isn’t just about carbon credits; it’s an innovative funding model designed to turn sustainability from a cost centre into a revenue stream by directly engaging sport’s greatest asset: its fans.

A “Horses for Courses” Approach

As Sam Hope, Abatable’s sports lead, explained in the interview, the carbon market has become so complex that specialisation is key. “It’s not really the appropriate thing for one organisation to go and deliver everything, from footprinting, strategy, carbon solutions, offsetting and communnications,” he said. “It’s kind of horses for courses”.

This partnership is built on that philosophy. Abatable brings “agnostic” market intelligence, carbon credit sourcing, procurement, and due diligence, a capability it demonstrated when it supported the Olympic Games Paris 2024 by sourcing 1.2 million carbon credits for its legacy impact portfolio. Artemeter, on the other hand, brings expertise in decarbonisation strategy, business development, and, crucially, “carbon origination” and “innovative financing structure[s]”.

Artemeter’s flagship partnership with FC Barcelona is a case in point, where they are helping the club “embed ecological action into fan experiences” and address the “residual emissions” from their massive Camp Nou stadium rebuild. This new collaboration essentially combines Abatable’s “carbon market connectivity” with Artemeter’s “strategic insight” to create an integrated solution for an industry crying out for credible pathways to decarbonisation.

The Elephant in the Room: Fan Travel

A major hurdle for the industry is the “uncontrollable” nature of fan emissions. An article from Global Sustainable Sport previously highlighted the bizarre discrepancy where Tottenham’s published GHG emissions were four times those of Arsenal, despite similar-sized stadiums and fanbases. The reality was that Tottenham had included their fan travel and Arsenal had not.

Sam Hope confirmed this is a strategic headache for clubs. “Travel is incompatible with a… fixed target of, say, 2040”, like those set by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). “It won’t happen,” he stated, “because the national rail and other infrastructure networks [are] not on the same 2040 timeline”. Clubs are therefore reluctant to include a massive, uncontrollable emission source within their official reporting boundary. This leaves a significant “residual footprint” that, until now, has been largely unaddressed. This partnership aims to provide the mechanism to finally tackle this.

The Funding Model: Turning an Expense into Revenue

This is the real innovation. The partnership’s model moves beyond asking cash-strapped clubs to foot the bill. “Asking a club, an organisation to just simply write a check… it doesn’t work,” Albrecht stated bluntly.

Instead, they help clubs engage fans to “build out a transparent climate contribution”, such as a small, automatic “compound on a ticket, $1 a ticket,” as Hope suggested. This contribution is “set aside for use only to acquire carbon solutions” and address the emissions from fan travel, stadium operations, and team logistics.

Crucially, this is not just a carbon offsetting scheme. Albrecht revealed that the model allows a portion of this fan-generated fund to be used “not just [to] buy carbon, but to help fund other sustainability activities”. Suddenly, a club has a new, dedicated budget to “buy LED light bulbs” or invest in other operational efficiencies they “couldn’t afford otherwise”.

This, as Albrecht noted, “starts to engage with… sponsorship and partners within a club”. It’s “no longer just a pure pyramid conversation. This is sponsorship and real revenue impact for an organisation”.

But Will the Fans Pay?

The immediate pushback, of course, is the fear of fan backlash. But the data suggests this is not the reality. Forthcoming research from Artemeter, previewed in their announcement, shows that 72% of sports fans “would pay an additional fee on top of ticket prices to make a positive environmental impact”.

Sam Hope’s practical experience bears this out with him pointing to a series of The 1975 gigs at the O2 arena where 90p was added to every ticket to fund, fan-led carbon removal contributions. He also pointed to the London Marathon , which “charges a carbon removal fee of as much as £31 per international runner” as a blunt but necessary instrument, as they strive to meet their 2030 net zero target.

The real resistance, Hope argued, is internal. “The fear is… that [the] organisation itself needs to do something itself first,” that “they want to get their own house in order” before asking fans to contribute. But the partners believe fans are ready. “The fan actually just wants to be led by its club, on topics like climate action, and this is a huge opportunity for fan engagement ” Hope said. As Albrecht put it, “Sustainability in sports is not just operational. It is emotional, cultural, and deeply connected to fan identity”.

Rebuilding Trust in a Confused Market

The partnership launches at a critical moment. As Hope rightly observed, there is “peak confusion” and widespread “mistrust” of carbon credits. Many organisations are “reviewing their strategy”, and with 2030 targets looming, targets that 90% admit they’re not on track to meet, the industry is in “strategic mode” and unsure how to implement credible solutions.

Abatable and Artemeter are positioning themselves as “strategic guides” in this confusing period. Their plan is to target flagship clubs, major events like the World Cup and the US-based Olympics, and even entire leagues. By developing “a few case studies” that demonstrate “best practice,” they hope to create a standardised and trusted models that the rest of the industry can “adopt”.

Given the scale of the challenge, and the funding black hole at the heart of sport’s climate ambitions, a model that engages the fan base to create a new, dedicated revenue stream isn’t just a novel idea, it may be a unique and collaborative path forward.