UEFA has launched a carbon footprint calculator designed to help football clubs reduce their environmental impact by lowering emissions.
The calculator, unveiled this week at Emirates football stadium – the home of Premier League club Arsenal – will be available to all European football clubs.
It will scrutinise carbon emissions data relating to a club’s travel, facilities, goods purchased and logistics.
European football’s governing body has been criticised in the past for increased levels of emissions due to more football matches being played and therefore more travel required.
“The UEFA carbon footprint calculator embodies our ambition to showcase that football can be part of the solution in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions,” UEFA vice-president Laura McAllister said.
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The calculator was based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and had been piloted by several football organisations in its development phase. Over 20 football organisations as well as other advisors have been working on it.
UEFA has signed the UN’s Race to Zero which calls for a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2040. It said the calculator was designed to manage and reduce carbon emissions in a simplified and cost-effective way.
“This investment in a collective approach will improve consistency, provide clarity of reported information and support efforts toward comparability over time,” said UEFA.
“Our ambition is to show the world that football can be part of the solution in the collective drive towards reducing carbon emissions. By developing the UEFA Carbon Footprint Calculator, we want to be catalysts on the drive to reduction in football, zooming in on the importance of measurement as a key strategic step.”
German Bundesliga club Wolfsburg said: “The calculator is well designed and goes into depths of data collection. This paves the way for long-term change.”
Arsenal said: “Giving all the clubs the same calculator tool will enable us to work closer together and drive efficiency and emission reductions across the whole game.”
Several brands have launched carbon calculators to help provide clearer emissions data and address social and environmental issues associated with tech.
In August last year, the government launched a UK Business Climate Hub to help 5.5 million small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to save on energy bills while reducing emissions.
