Sustainably in - 3 July 2024
Kick off for the planet
When the future is at
This week, I went from movie and popcorn nights at home watching "The Legacy" to meeting friends at the bar with the Italian flag painted on my cheeks to support our national football team in the European Championship (what a nail-biter!), to then cheering "from Rome to Bangkok" for the amazing 3-1 victory our volleyball girls had over the Japanese team in the Nations League.
Wow, what an adrenaline rush sports give us! What an impact sports have on our lives!
Hold on, hold on... but really, what impact do sports have?
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, sports contribute roughly between 1% and 2% of global emissions. If we think about water consumption, for instance, an 18-hole golf course or a medium-sized football stadium requires the same daily amount of water as used by the residents of an average Italian municipality: 2 million liters!
However, it is undeniable that sports play a fundamental role in our society, connecting individuals and communities in profound and meaningful ways. The reasons we follow sports range from psychological to social and cultural aspects. Sports elicit strong emotions by offering an engaging experience, create a sense of identity and belonging within a community, and embody competition and challenge, which are inherently highly motivating.
Indeed, motivating. How motivating can it be?
Consider how many people can be reached with just one event. Let's look at TV numbers alone: the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar reached over 5.3 billion people; Spalletti's Azzurri debut against Albania was watched by over 11 million Italian viewers; the 2021 Olympic Games attracted 3.05 billion enthusiasts; the 2023 Ryder Cup generated 75 million viewed content pieces; the Cricket World Cup had a total viewership of 2.2 billion; and the 2024 Super Bowl had 123 million viewers.
Now, let’s think of sports as a huge amplifier capable of initiating change on a local and global scale towards new social and environmental responsibility for people and the planet.
In 2017, Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, stated:
---
"With its values of respect, dialogue, and understanding, (sport) contributes to the development and realization of individuals. From sport arise actions and reflections to transform and improve our societies..."
---
Thus establishing the Kazan Action Plan, a global agreement that integrates sports practice into the sustainable development goals of the UN Agenda 2030.
Indeed, there are numerous initiatives (though some missteps too, such as Qatar’s net-zero emissions and the Cortina slopes) and many committed to leading the way.
For example, Morten Thorsby founded “We Play Green” and changed his jersey number to 2 to remind everyone of the Paris Agreement 2015 goal of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C. On the topic of jerseys, Inter players also wore a patch on their sleeves on April 22nd to comment on their numbers related to "earth data", aiming to raise public awareness about the environmental emergency characterizing our present.
In basketball, as part of the UN's "Sport for Climate Action" program, the NBA has set the goal of reducing its carbon footprint by 50% by 2030.
Lastly, since 2010, the Green Sports Alliance has been combining diverse expertise with a shared passion for sports, becoming pioneers in the "green" sports movement.
Other Initiatives?
The Philadelphia Eagles, an American football team, produce a third of the energy for their stadium with solar panels and wind turbines. In surfing, boards made from recycled plastic have been developed. In tennis, Triniti balls with a rubber core that don't require pressurized air and last four times longer than traditional balls have been introduced. In volleyball, Good Net's nets are made from abandoned fishing nets.
In Hong Kong, a basketball court was built from 20,000 recycled shoes, and in cricket, bamboo bats have been created as an alternative to wooden ones.
In Italy?
The CONI and ASVIS, on the occasion of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia tennis tournament in Rome, published a map to reach the Foro Italico without impacting the environment. In the Giro d'Italia, the focus was on recycling, Juventus commits to planting 200 trees for every goal scored, and let’s not forget Udinese, which uses 100% sustainable energy sources.
In short, the secret of sports could be leveraging its cultural influence, role modeling, and awareness-raising to promote change—the change we so desperately need.
I bid you farewell by quoting one of my favorites, who would surely encourage us towards 2030 like this:
“Winners find solutions. Losers look for excuses” - Velasco
... and inevitably, the air is filled with the tune of “notti magiche… inseguendo un goal” (and I know you read that while singing, and those who don’t admit it are simply lying 😉).
Chiara Pontoni
Sustainability Manager Gesteco
-------------------------------------
Speaking of sports, I want to congratulate our five-a-side football team, which won the company tournament "L’originale" held at "La Bombonera"… a fantastic team effort powered by renewable energy and eco-friendly tactics (and maybe a few beers too)!
Standing from left: Gianni, Francesco, Cristian, Tommaso, Alessandro, Davide, Luigi | Kneeling from left: Matteo, Lorenzo, Tommaso, Emanuele, Massimiliano, Filippo
-------------------------------------