Environmental sustainability efforts for Sport Positive Summit
Sport Positive Summit brings together global leaders in sport to increase action and ambition on climate change, and discuss ways we can reduce our impact on the environmental, as well as spread the message of climate change to citizens, fans and consumers of sport.
Practising what we preach is central to convening everybody in October, so we are doing everything we can to reduce the environmental impact. We want to provide the highest-level of experience that we can for you, but putting on an event like this of course will create a carbon footprint.
To note, last year the Summit’s carbon footprint was just over 150 tonnes of CO2e. By comparison, a football match taking place in the UK is around 800-900 tonnes.
We are looking closely at every aspect of the Summit and working out areas that we can reduce our impact, whilst keeping the level of service that you would expect from a world-class conference. With that in mind, we are actioning the below:
Venue
- We always choose venues to host the Summit that have strong sustainability credentials. You can read more about the Kia Oval here.
Transport, Travel & Accommodation
- When people register for the Summit we are asking how far they are travelling, by which modes of transport, and in which class. From this information, we will account for and offset these unavoidable emissions. You don’t have to account for this yourself, unless you wish to double account of course
- When people register for the Summit, we are asking what kind of accommodation they will book, for how many nights, and in the case of staying in a hotel, whether it is budget or luxury, or somewhere in between. From this information, we will account for and offset these unavoidable emissions. You don’t have to account for this yourself, unless you wish to double account of course
- This year we are delighted to be collaborating with AQ Green TeC – who provide solutions to help event organisers better manage their climate impact, including via the use of our digital tools to engage fans, spectators and attendees to measure, reduce and offset their GHG emissions. When you register for the Summit, you can complete your travel and accommodation information, to see how the tool works and think about if it is a good fit for your upcoming sporting event to engage fans. By doing this you will also be in with a chance to win 2 tickets to Sport Positive Summit 2025 or 4 tickets to a DP World Tour event in 2025.
- The Summit is a global event, thus our speaker faculty is made up of people from around the world, however we have prioritised more speakers from UK/nearby mainland Europe, to reduce travel miles. Any travel that does happen, will be compensated for in the same way as for attendees (explained above)
- We are live-streaming certain streams of our Summit, so that those who don’t wish to travel due to the emissions, can still take part in the Summit to some extent. With more breakout discussion sessions this year (requested by our 2023 attendees) to support the evolution of industry challenges, only main stage sessions will be live streamed. Networking opportunities abound through our event app however
- For any suppliers that we use, we are prioritising local, or suppliers that already work with the venue and can add our needs into their existing deliveries, to reduce transport miles for supplies
- We encourage you to consider your carbon footprint when you choose your route/class of travel, and try and opt for more sustainable options where possible
Food
- The food and drink (milk alternatives etc.) provided at the Summit will be entirely plant-based and portion control is used to avoid food waste
- We ask about food intolerances and and allergies and ensure that there is sufficient options for anyone unable to eat certain foods because of this
- We ask the venue to work as far as possible with seasonal and local foods sources, to reduce impact of food travel miles
Materials
- No single use plastic drinks containers/plates/cutlery will be provided at the Summit, it will all be existing ceramic crockery and metal cutlery used
- We ask that you bring your own reusable water bottle to the Summit, if you don’t have one don’t worry – glassware will be available onsite
- We are working with signage partners to reduce the amount of signage we need at the Summit, and all signage used will be reused/recycled. Nothing will go to landfill
- We are working with our AV provider to ensure our stage sets are as sustainable as possible, not requesting new/specific carpeting for stages and reusing what they already have
Miscellaneous
- We are a mostly paperless event, and use an event app for attendees to access agenda information and see speaker biographies, arrange meetings etc. This year we are giving space for breakout discussions in our Summit Tracks and as such feel obliged to put a sheet of Flipchart paper and pens on tables, for attendees to be able to ideate and discuss. The Flipchart paper is recycled and pens are made from paper and steel
- We provide Sport Positive branded lanyards and badges, and ask that you return the lanyards for reuse and the badges will be recycled. We have had a 99% lanyard return rate over the past 3 years. Thank you!
- We use paper badges so they are easy to recycle, so thanks for taking care of them over the two days and putting them in our recycling points as you leave
- We are working with the venue to ensure that any other impacts that haven’t yet been considered are calculated and we will prioritise reducing whatever it is first, then if we consider it essential, we compensate for anything that is unavoidable
Accessibility
- For wheelchair users – parts of the Kia Oval building date back to the 1800s and some spaces weren’t built for those with additional needs in mind. However all spaces are entirely accessible through lifts and accessible toilets are available close to all spaces. Please advise us of your needs and we will assign a Sport Positive staff member to support the quickest and easiest ways to access rooms in the fastest way
- Multi-faith prayer room, quiet space for those who are neurodiverse and private space for breastfeeding or pumping are available, they will be signposted but please ask members of staff for more details
- Visual or audio support can be provided for those who need it
- If you have an additional need that we haven’t mentioned here, or require support to make your Summit experience as seamless as possible, please contact [email protected]
Have you got ideas about how we can make the Summit more green? Get in touch!
