An increasing number of organisations, including sports clubs, are measuring their carbon footprints. This helps you understand your environmental impact and start taking practical steps to reduce it. It can also strengthen your club’s reputation and help attract new members, volunteers, partners, and sponsors.

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Understanding and reducing your emissions can also help your club prepare for the future. As sustainability becomes more important in funding, policies, and community expectations, clubs that take action will be better placed to adapt.

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But how do you get started?

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1. Take That First Step

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The first step is to agree at a club level and communicate that you are committed sustainability. This is important because it means everyone within your club is on the same page and reducing emissions is a whole organisation activity that involves different people across different areas of the club so it is key that everyone is aware of the direction of travel.

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2. Gather and Record Your Emissions

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The next thing you need to do is figure out your club’s current level of emissions. Scientists call this “baselining.” Baselining shows where your club is starting from, so you can put plans in place to reduce your carbon footprint and often your costs too.

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To calculate your footprint, you follow a widely used method called the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which groups emissions into three simple categories:

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• Direct emissions (scope 1) – from things your club owns or controls, such as fuel used in club vehicles or gas used to heat your clubhouse.

• Energy you buy (scope 2) – mainly electricity used to power lighting, facilities, and equipment.

• Other indirect emissions (scope 3) – emissions linked to your activities, such as waste, purchased goods and services, or how people travel to and from the club.

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Depending on the size and type of club you run, this usually means collecting and recording information related to your:​

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• facilities

• vehicles

• electricity

• heating and cooling

• waste

• travel and transport

• suppliers

• leased assets

• treatment of sold products (such as sports kit and football boots)

• purchased goods and services.

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Once you understand where your emissions are coming from, you can start identifying practical ways to reduce them.

 

3. Reporting

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Once you know what your emissions are and you have put a plan in place to reduce them over a period of years, you will be able to set a target that you can work towards. It's really important to report on and communicate the progress that you make to your staff, volunteers, members, committees and the public.