On 9th October 2024 in London, the mid-term conference of FREE KICKS* was hosted during Sport Positive Summit 2024. Being open to the 600 on-site attendees, and also being live streamed and recorded, it brought together the partners of FREE KICKS, as well as EU officials, to share progress on the project and key information to sport and football attendees to progress their work on sustainability.
The conference was hosted by FREE KICKS project leader S.Anna School of Advanced Studies’ Associate Professor in Sustainability Management, Tiberio Daddi, with Alessio Novi of the same institution setting the scene for the session with FREE KICKS work to date.
Novi shared key findings from environmental footprint calculations undertaken by project partners. These findings include the average CO2 emitted by one football match is equal to a car driving from Rome to Hong Kong, 72 times OR the Co2 absorbed by 1202 trees in one year. Additionally, the largest average environmental footprint from football matches are fan mobility, stadium and training facility energy consumption and the environmental impacts from food and beverages consumed.
Another major project milestone is FREE KICKS partner, FC Porto, being EMAS certified. EMAS registration is a voluntary governance tool for improving environmental performance. Emilien Gasc, Counsellor – Climate, Environment, Energy, Delegation of the EU to the UK joined the conference to share more about their work.
Gasc began by answering the question; why football? “We believe the global football industry is responsible for 30 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. In local communities, football is a trusted community source” he shared. The popularity of EMAS is clear, with 4000 registered organisations in the EU currently. Benefits of EMAS registration mentioned by Gasc include improved environmental performance – 70% of registered EMAS organisations believe they have achieved savings – and improved legal compliance, due to a better understanding of staff and suppliers.
The conference was completed with an interactive panel discussion between FREE KICKS partners from Malmö FF, Real Betis Balompié, FC Porto and Romanian Football Federation. In this discussion, they share insights on the process of their own environmental impact assessments and solutions that can help drive positive change forward.
The full conference recording can be accessed here.
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** Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them
