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The UK sport and climate sector has made enormous progress on environmental sustainability over the past four years.
In 2020 only one Premier League club had a sustainability manager and formal, public strategy in place – as far as I am aware. I recall a producer from the BBC’s Big Green Money Show – a podcast hosted by Deborah Meaden that interviews CEOs of major British businesses about sustainability – telling me that the highest-ranking spokesperson they could secure from a Premier League club was the head of foundation at Aston Villa. That sums up elite football’s engagement with sustainability at the time.
Since then, the Premier League has introduced new environmental sustainability criteria – a commendable step forward. Clubs must now designate a senior employee to lead their sustainability efforts, and most have responded by hiring dedicated sustainability managers. Many of these professionals bring expertise from corporate roles at companies like Waitrose, Deloitte, and Accenture.
Their influence has propelled the conversation beyond the league’s requirements into broader areas such as food, nature, and transport. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s catering provider, Levy, has hired a sustainability manager – possibly the UK’s first stadium-specific food and beverage sustainability role. Brentford are developing a nature strategy, and there is increasing ambition amongst clubs to tackle transport-related emissions, for example through Trainline’s ‘I came by train’ campaign. The momentum is building.
Yet, progress remains uneven. Many clubs still lack dedicated sustainability managers, merging the role into other positions, and their progress on the criteria is unclear. While the Premier League mandates that clubs implement a robust environmental sustainability policy by the end of this season and develop a comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions dataset across scopes one, two and three by the end of next season, the conversation is already shifting beyond carbon footprints – especially as several clubs already measure and even publish this data.
There are also concerns that momentum will stall. A recent SportsPro prediction that economic pressures will cool talk of net zero has stirred debate. Seasoned professionals in my sector share cautionary tales of respected sustainability careers at major UK sporting institutions being cut short once their work was deemed ‘complete’ – only for progress to stagnate afterward.
Amidst this fragmented landscape, a new player is emerging in the sport and climate space: the government.
The government’s role in sport and climate
Government intervention in football is already underway, and the Premier League is pushing back. As commercial entities, elite clubs are naturally wary of regulation, and the ongoing Football Governance Bill – currently at the House of Lords report stage – illustrates this tension.
I have been writing about this issue since the government first responded to the Fan-Led Review in 2022, highlighting its omission of the financial threat of climate change to football – despite its stated aim of ensuring the game’s long-term viability. This oversight is striking, given that:
- Zurich insurance predicts 40 per cent of professional football stadiums in England will be at risk from multiple climate hazards by 2050.
- Whitby Town (seventh tier) estimates losing UK£12,000 per month in winter due to postponed games.
- FA chair Debbie Hewitt admitted in Parliament that 120,000 matches are cancelled per season due to unplayable pitches – yet no formal study quantifies climate change’s financial impact on the game.
Initially, civil servants working on the Football Governance Bill showed little interest in environmental sustainability, instead directing me to speak with the Premier League – overlooking the need for a coordinated, game-wide response.
Interestingly, the league’s new environmental criteria emerged well before its long-promised sustainability strategy, first announced in 2021 and now rumoured to be on the verge of release. Could this have been a strategic concession to pre-empt potential regulation?
Regardless, the issue has gained remarkable traction in Parliament. Environmental sustainability features among the 300-plus proposed amendments to the Football Governance Bill – one of the highest amendment counts in parliamentary history. When I attended a Fair Game event in Parliament this January, I was struck by the enthusiasm of MPs and Lords on the topic.
This engagement reflects the approach of the newly elected Labour government, which – along with its record 335 new MPs – is eager to make its mark after 14 years in opposition. Labour understands the cultural power of football – evident in prime minister Keir Starmer launching last year’s election campaign at Gillingham’s Priestfield Stadium and recently being photographed kicking a football in Brazil for the launch of the global Earth FC initiative.
Uefa Euro 2028 – the biggest event to occur in the UK since the London 2012 Olympics – is emerging as a key moment in Labour’s term. In an unusual move, the tournament has already begun recruiting a head of impact and sustainability alongside key legal and financial roles, reportedly at the government’s request. Some even speculate that Labour might call an election shortly after the tournament – a strategy former prime minister Rishi Sunak reportedly considered last summer.
Opportunities and warnings
The growing role of government in sport and climate presents both opportunities and risks.
One key opportunity lies in bridging the gap between government and sport. Whilst the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has begun to regularly convene sport stakeholders on climate, it has faced criticism for its broader lack of focus on the issue. Sport England faces similar challenges, despite chairman Chris Boardman’s best efforts. The British Association for Sustainability in Sport (BASIS) has taken the initiative, securing a Sport England contract to roll out carbon literacy training.
Another key opportunity is direct engagement with policymakers. Parliament is increasingly open to evidence submissions on sport and climate – something the Football and Climate Change Newsletter has consistently advocated for. There are specific openings to contribute to the Department for Transport’s integrated national transport strategy and to push for an inquiry into sport and climate through the Culture, Media & Sport Committee. If you are interested in collaborating on these submissions, please get in touch – a coalition approach is always stronger.
Political leaders elsewhere are also stepping up. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo’s campaign against Total Energies’ sponsorship of the 2024 Olympics set a precedent for climate-conscious governance in sport. This bold move demonstrated the level of influence public officials can have in the planning of major events.
Internationally, there is growing potential to elevate the UK’s leadership in sport and climate. The sector is arguably the strongest in the world, demonstrated by the increasing number of sustainability roles within clubs and the external organisations supporting or pressuring them. The launch of the UK Soft Power Council provides an opportunity to shape global policy, with stakeholders also able to submit evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee. Having engaged in conversations with UK embassies worldwide, I see real potential for deeper international collaboration.
For businesses, this represents both domestic and global opportunities. Within the UK, clubs increasingly need expert guidance to navigate government policy. Meanwhile, British sport and climate consultancies are already securing international projects, leveraging multilingual teams to expand into markets such as Italy and Switzerland.
However, there are warnings associated with this new era of sports diplomacy, where sport is being strategically leveraged in global politics in ways not seen since the Cold War.
Saudi Arabia has placed sport at the centre of its geopolitical ambitions, securing hosting rights for the 2034 Fifa World Cup, among other high-profile events. Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump recently positioned the Fifa World Cup trophy behind him while tariff discussions continued with Mexico and Canada, his 2026 World Cup co-hosts. Fifa president Gianni Infantino’s presence at Trump’s inauguration and victory rally further underscores the growing entanglement of sport and politics.
Morocco is also positioning itself as a gateway to Africa, in the build up to the 2030 Fifa World Cup, a strategy reinforced by the recent visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping, signalling increasing geopolitical manoeuvring through sport.
We must remain cautious of how swiftly Trump managed to disassociate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) from the US government, with companies such as Google, Meta, and McDonald’s following suit. A similar shift could occur with environmental sustainability. While such a rollback is unlikely in the UK under a Labour government, it serves as a cautionary example of how quickly both government and corporate commitments can erode.
Last year over half of the world’s population went to the polls. New ideologies are emerging. Sport’s role in diplomacy, climate action, and cultural influence is growing. Whether sport leads on sustainability – or simply reacts to it – will depend on how it engages with government, both in the UK and internationally.
This is undoubtedly a pivotal moment.
About the author: Barney Weston is a writer and consultant, working at the intersection of football and environmental sustainability. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
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