Premier League makes steady progress on environmental commitments
One year on, clubs implement green initiatives and work toward net zero.
One year ago, the Premier League announced its Environmental Sustainability Commitment. The Asterisk examined how much progress has been made over the past year.
The commitment, announced on 9 February 2024, outlined four measures to reduce the environmental impact of clubs. Each club would have to:
Develop a robust environmental sustainability policy, by the end of the 2024/25 season.
Designate a senior employee to lead the club’s environmental sustainability activities.
Develop a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions dataset (scope 1, 2 and 3) by the end of the 2025/26 season and work towards a standardised football-wide approach to measuring emissions.
Support the development of a common framework for action via the Premier League Sustainability Working Group (PLSWG).
Commitment 1
Most clubs have policies, commitments, and strategies in place, while some continue to develop their plans. From energy to waste management, every club has taken initiatives to drive their green efforts.
Liverpool's sustainability programme, The Red Way, won the Sports Sustainability Award at the International Sports Awards in January.
Liverpool has reduced its emissions by 29% since the 2020/21 season. The 19-time champions have offset 100% of emissions from their football operations, with 94% of the club's operations running on clean energy. Liverpool aims to achieve net-zero status by 2040.
In November 2024, Arsenal became the only football club in the world to have a net-zero target approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a global corporate climate action organisation.
“Today’s approval means that our action plan for net zero aligns with the most ambitious pathway to limit global temperature rises,” stated www.arsenal.com.
Commitment 2
More than half of Premier League teams have designated a senior employee or sustainability manager to lead their respective green measures, The Asterisk revealed last year.
For some clubs, the role falls under the remit of another staff member, while many clubs also have sustainability working groups.
The Premier League is also in the process of hiring a Sustainability Manager. Currently, Will Hutton, Head of Sustainability, leads the organisations green initiatives.
Commitment 3
Nearly all clubs published their emissions data for the 2022/23 season in their financial statements.
Luton Town was the only club that did not publish its Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting data for the 2023/24 financial year.
Nottingham Forest publicised its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for the first time last year.
Many clubs did not fully report their Scope 3 emissions, which include travel and make up a large portion of a club’s overall emissions.
The methodology used to report emissions data across Premier League clubs lacks uniformity. Manchester City provided data for both location- and market-based emissions, while neighbours Manchester United used a market-based methodology. As a result, creating a league table comparing each club’s emissions lacks accuracy.
The Premier League’s move to work towards a standardised approach aims to mitigate these discrepancies.
Commitment 4
Club officials have met throughout the year to discuss Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) progress, the UEFA carbon footprint methodology, and other sustainability initiatives.
The Premier League, one of the world’s most-watched sporting competitions, has been criticised for its slow action toward environmental sustainability.
In January, the English Football League (EFL), the body that organises the Championship, League One, and League Two of the football pyramid, relaunched its Green Clubs scheme.
The programme offers clubs in-depth training and support to develop their environmental practices, improve operations, and measure their carbon footprint.
Like the EFL, Premier League clubs have been offered support by experts to fulfil their commitments.
What more has the Premier League been doing?
Most Premier League clubs have replaced traditional lights with LEDs to reduce their carbon footprint. LEDs consume 80% less energy and have a longer lifespan. The reduction in energy demand means fewer fossil fuels are burned, and fewer replacements are required.
Now, non-league and women’s clubs can also transition to LED floodlights at their stadiums through the Premier League Stadium Fund. A total of £9 million is being made available to clubs adopting this greener option.
Launceston FC, a club from Cornwall in the 10th tier of English football, has installed solar panels through the scheme and is saving money.
"It is absolutely great that the money from the Premier League reaches us at Step 6 of the football pyramid here in Cornwall," said Peter Stevenson, Launceston treasurer and director of the Cornwall FA.
"Our electricity bill had risen terrifically over the previous two years, increasing four- or five-fold, so financially it was right, and environmentally it was right, to install solar panels. We expect to recoup £5,000 in savings within 12 months,” he added.
A total of 155 grants, amounting to £1.1 million, have been provided through the Storm Relief Fund to help non-league and women’s clubs recover from storm damage, an issue occurring more frequently due to climate change. This fund is part of the Premier League Stadium Fund.
Education plays a significant role in changing behaviours. The Premier League Lifeskills programme enables players across all academy age groups, as well as the men’s first team, to receive environmental sustainability training.
The workshops, funded by the Premier League, help players incorporate sustainability into their everyday lives.
Sports organisations can use the brand affinity that fans have with their teams to influence behaviour, according to Dr. Brian McCullough, a sport sustainability expert and program chair of Sport Management at the University of Michigan.
The Premier League has also launched initiatives that have engaged thousands of young people across England and Wales in events tackling and raising awareness of environmental issues.
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