The elusive S word for Global sports events

'Sustainability'. Also the most used and abused word of the year, I feel.

But why global sporting events are in focus?

With the just concluded Paris Olympics trying to be carbon neutral, and it being touted the 'Hottest Olympics ever', the discussions on rapid climate change is at the forefront of the Sporting industry. Athletes dealt with extreme heat, had to take refuge under the shade of the trees or bring air conditioners from their home countries to sleep (example - US and India athletes got their air cons with them).

Some of the measures taken by Paris Olympics organizers to reduce the carbon footprint were:

• Carbon budgeting instead of carbon forecasting that had been done in the previous editions
• Carbon budget set to 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 compared to the average emissions of 3.6 million tonnes over the last few editions
• 95% of the infrastructure used was either existing or temporary venues
• Renting equipment wherever possible rather than buying
• Underground hydro cooling systems and insulation instead of air conditioners
• Massive restoration work undertaken around the River Seine
• Efforts to secure a ISO 20121 certification (Event sustainability management systems)
• Making Circular economy as #1 commitment in responsible purchasing strategy
• Recognize, protect and regenerate biodiversity at the venues

And many more before, during, and after the games.

Multiple sporting events happen daily across the world, through summer, winter, monsoon, and fall. Today, the athletes are not just dealing with the typical seasonal and temperature changes, but they are also dealing with heat waves, extreme cold, torrential rains, floods, and unpredictable conditions. While the sporting events deal with these climactic changes, they are also responsible for some of it.

Let's look at a single day event like a marathon as an example. Some of the biggest marathon events attract participation of 50,000 to 100,000 from 100+ countries. These participants either travel in groups or with their families and friends, mostly. This means the number of people travelling would be at least 1.25X of the number of participants i.e. 125,000 travelers if the participation is 100,000 (1/4th of the participation is international). An international participant's carbon emissions will be 2.5-3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), average. While a local participant will be 500-700 KG CO2e. In total, that's around 160,000 tonnes of CO2e. In addition, there is event logistics, energy consumption at event venues, waste management, food and refreshments, volunteer and crowd management, etc. All of these add to the carbon emissions significantly. Let's benchmark a marathon's carbon emissions at 250,000 CO2e.

World Athletics today recognizes the role of global marathons in contributing to the carbon emissions and hence, has set a goal of carbon-neutral events by 2030. World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, covering track and field, cross country running, road running, race walking, mountain running and ultra running. In order to achieve this goal, it has set up guidelines for the global events which have to be followed with every event. Plus, the event organizers have tools to measure their performance w.r.t. different metrics so that they are progressively cutting down on their carbon emissions. This has become an integral part of the affiliation with events running the risk of losing World Athletics affiliation if they don't follow the guidelines. This means that the event losing its global audience and hence, is bad for the business too.

So, how can marathon organizers be progressively sustainable with the goal of delivering carbon neutral events by 2030 or earlier?

• Let's understand first that any decision that a marathon organizer makes has to be tested without risking runner's wellbeing
• With that, we divide the event as two phases : 1. Carbon reduction (Before & during the event) 2. Carbon offset (Before & After the event)
• These two approaches need to go hand in hand, the more we reduce, the lesser we have to offset.
• To get to this stage, first we need to measure and benchmark the carbon emissions (travel, logistics, event venues, participation, packaging, food, waste and wastage, etc.) and create a base from which we progressively reduce the emissions
• Under Carbon Reduction -? 1. Energy being one of the primary source of emissions - Collaborating with venue partners, hotels, stadiums, suppliers to reduce HVAC requirement. Decarbonize the energy sources. Calculation and measurement of emissions by each supplier (important to benchmark) 2. Packaging - Here, we keep the philosophy of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RRRR) in every vendor/partner on-boarding. Today, Biodegradable and compostable food packaging options are available and should be invested into. 3. Waste and Wastage - Rent wherever possible rather than buy. Reuse glasses over event editions are simple examples.
• Under Offset - 1. Invest in forest, tree and green plantations. 2. Innovative approaches include mobilizing the participants into restoration work of rivers, water bodies, trails, etc. This could be a great way to offset carbon emissions without big financial investments.?
• Other approaches could include initiating a Sustainability forum/conference in your respective countries and bringing together all partners, stakeholders, sporting bodies across the country for knowledge sharing and learning from each other's success.
• Strategic partnerships with Global organizations like UN, WWF to bring in more expertise and resources and expediting the race towards a carbon-neutral marathon event.

This is just a blueprint of what marathon organizers need to do to begin their march towards sustainable events. The work has to start right now and bold steps need to be taken. At the same time, I do believe the goal of carbon-neutral events is an achievable. All it requires if strategic planning, execution, and taking all stakeholders into confidence. And then working progressively towards it over the next few years. Together, the sports events industry can make this happen and set an example for other industries to follow.

And the sporting world needs it more than most, because athletes and global events are one of the most impacted by the rapid climate change incidents. Lets do it for ourselves!

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