On 26 April the Sports Group of the European Parliament organised a panel discussion on environmental sustainability in sport. Speakers from a number of prominent sport organisations took part in the two sessions. The first sessions focussed on good examples of greening in sports. Floor van Houdt (Sport Unit, European Commission), Tiago Guilherme (ENGSO Youth) and Jennie Blackmore (Sky Sports) explained what their respective organisations/institutions have put in place in order to tackle the many environmental challenges they and society at large are facing. The insights included remote production of TV-broadcasts, international collaboration on sustainability and funding schemes for green sports.
The second panel gathered Nicole Mündelein (Euro 2024), Federico Addiechi (FIFA) and Riikka Rakic (IBU), who highlighted the measures undertaken to organise sustainable sporting events such as a Biathlon World Cup or a major football tournament. Different examples of projects for environmental or social sustainability were presented, including awareness-raising programmes for events’ volunteers, green travel options for fans, environmental and social requirements for events or projects to re-think the impact of a sport on the environment (e.g. sustainable snow management in biathlon).
All panellists agreed that the sports sector holds a responsibility to promote climate action through the platform sports events, sports clubs and athletes have at their disposal.