Sustainable Sports Certification
Sustainable Sport
Why choose Sustainable Sport?
Sports stars & events inspire a generation of fans and consumers globally. Sustainable sport is the way forward toward a better world.
Sports are crucial to both physical and mental health. Therefore, they are essential to everyday life. Sport is also a significant industry involving and entertaining millions of people. Consequently, it impacts the environment, consuming resources, land, energy, and water and generating waste. That is why, in addition to taking care of our health, we should consider the planet’s health too!
Are you aware that, despite looking like one of the greenest sports out there, Golf is one of the worst for the environment? Those vast, green courses need to be maintained, which can harm the ecosystem. Acres of land are converted from wildlife habitats to iron-swinging playgrounds.
According to the United States Golf Association (USGA), golf course irrigation was last estimated at 2,312,701 acre-feet annually. This translates to around 2.08 billion gallons per day, accounting for just .5% of the nation’s 408 billion gallons of water withdrawn daily. Also, Golf courses maintain lush turf with routine spraying of various chemicals, including herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. These hazardous toxins then run off and pollute nearby waters.
But it’s not only Golf. Think about Skydiving: using a plane and its fossil fuels to get into the air makes it less eco-friendly than many other sports. And what about the pollution produced during cars and motor racing? Soccer, at last, is one of the most popular sports in the world: the teams constantly travel to arenas, burning large amounts of fossil fuels. And so do the supporters, who consume a lot of plastic in stadiums (cups, straws, and flags, for example).
So, it is crucial that all sports operators and clubs, from the smallest to the biggest, reduce the impact and respect social accountability principles. And those that have already paved the way should be publicly promoted so that the public is aware of their efforts.
Friend of the Earth Sport certification
Friend of the Earth has developed and launched a Sustainable Sport Certification Standard, which would award those operators compliant with the environmental and social sustainability requirements.
The Friend of the Earth sustainable sport certification is designed to bring together good practices by key stakeholders of the sport movement: from federations, teams, fans, sporting goods manufacturers and venue operators to sponsoring partners, environmental organizations and policymakers. Its main objective is to highlight innovative solutions that enhance sports’ environmental and sustainable performance. .
The United Nations’ Agenda 2030 has identified the importance of sport in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. And we at Friend of the Earth also believe that incorporating sustainable principles in the sporting industry will substantially impact and build better and more solid partnerships for people and the planet. Above all, the standard of sustainable sport strengthens the connection between sport and nature through Friend of the Earth’s conservation programs around the globe.
Friend of the Earth Sustainable Sport Standard
The sports standard will reward operators based on their compliance in the following areas:
- Authorization and permit
- Social and environmental management system
- Legal compliance
- Transport and recreational activities
- Ethics
- Water Resources
- Air Resources
- Waste Management
- Energy Management
- Social Accountability
Support conservation and awareness projects through sport
Choose Friend of the Sea and Friend of the Earth certified sustainable Sports Operators and Clubs. This way you will also protect nature by supporting several conservation and awareness programs globally.
Apply for Sustainable Sport Friend of the Earth Certification
Request a quotation for Friend of the Sea Certification of Sustainable Sport
Your Company can request a quotation for audit and royalties to use the Friend of the Sea registered trademark logo by filling out the online Preliminary Information Form.
All the information will be kept strictly confidential and implies NO commitment on your company’s part.
The Friend of the Sea certification is voluntary and NOT mandatory to gain marketaccess.
The application process is NOT discriminatory on size, scale, management, and a minimum number of operators.
Friend of the Sea is an NGO striving to make participation in audits affordable for all companies.
Please, contact us for more information on Government funding that might be available in your Country for sustainability certifications: info@friendoftheearth.org
Technical Documents
