The 2022 article ‘The impacts of sports emissions on climate: Measurement, mitigation, and making a difference’ explores both the emissions of major sporting events and efforts taken to reduce carbon footprint.
The article starts by noting that sports is a global phenomenon, worth over $500 billion USD in 2020, and attracts massive international audiences, and this socioeconomic and cultural significance of sporting events is increasing awareness of its environmental impact.
Figure 1. Emission per major sporting event [1]
From Figure 1, the amount of emissions by sports events varies quite significantly. F1 which has a smaller scope/audience has a carbon footprint of around 250,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent while the Olympics which cover many sports and feature many athletes from various countries have emissions ranging from 1.5 million to over 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. But why is measuring carbon footprint so important? Well, research papers have noted the growing interest in estimating carbon emission drivers via carbon footprint which measures the total amount of carbon dioxide emissions directly and indirectly caused by activities and when properly used, allows policymakers a solid basis to implement climate policies [2].
Shivanna notes that carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas (76%) and the concentration of CO2 has increased from 280ppm (pre-industrial era) to 412ppm now due to human activity [3]. In addition, increased CO2 concentration causes problems beyond rising sea levels and increased temperatures, it can reduce crop productivity and decrease minerals and nutrients in the food we eat. As such, scientists have noted that reducing emissions must remain at the center of climate strategy, complemented by carbon dioxide removals [4].
Our reference article notes various areas in major sporting events can reduce emissions. They include
- Better optimization for schedules which could save on logistics emissions (44% reduction in carbon emissions for F1)
- Pollution controls that restrict construction and industrial production (37% carbon emissions reduction noted for Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games)
- Having no spectator sports events (virtual telecast) or reduced attendance brought on by the Covid Pandemic
500,000-tonne reduction for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games and 130,000-tonne reduction for the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games
Beyond this, sports facilities were also noted as promoting carbon removal projects
- Solar water project in 2010 South Africa World Cup offsetting ~250,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions
- Golf course carbon sequestering between 0.455 (green) to 0.796 (mown rough) tonnes per hectare annually
- Brisbane (2032 Olympics) planning to be the world’s first climate-positive games (removing more emissions than the event emits)
This is corroborated by other research which has found that the typical fairway (between 1.5 and 2 acres) will sequester 3/4 ton of carbon annually while a one-acre soccer field removes around 1/3 ton of carbon annually [5].
Figure 2. Benefits of green spaces [6]
As Figure 2 shows, green spaces for sports/recreation can have immense benefits including and beyond carbon removals. Given that this is just one small ‘green’ space, the global sporting community can leverage their events and infrastructure to make it as environmentally friendly as possible and where possible reduce emissions in all areas of major sporting events.
– Lucian T. K.
[1] Wilby, R. L., Orr, M., Depledge, D., Giulianotti, R., Havenith, G., Kenyon, J. A., Matthews, T. K., Mears, S. A., Mullan, D. J., & Taylor, L. (2022). The impacts of sport emissions on climate: Measurement, mitigation, and making a difference. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1519(1), 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.14925
[2] Udara Willhelm Abeydeera, L. H., Wadu Mesthrige, J., & Samarasinghalage, T. I. (2019, July 22). Global Research on Carbon Emissions: A scientometric review. MDPI. Retrieved March 19, 2023, from https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/14/3972
[3] Shivanna, K. R. (2022, May 2). Climate change and its impact on biodiversity and Human Welfare – Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. SpringerLink. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43538-022-00073-6
[4] Morrow, D. R., Thompson, M. S., Anderson, A., Batres, M., Buck, H. J., Dooley, K., Geden, O., Ghosh, A., Low, S., Njamnshi, A., Noël, J., Táíwò Olúfẹ́mi O., Talati, S., & Wilcox, J. (2020). Principles for thinking about carbon dioxide removal in just climate policy. One Earth, 3(2), 150–153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.07.015