“UEFA Champions League Final will Generate 8,693 tonnes of Carbon Emissions”- World Land Trust

Environmental Conservation Charity, World Land Trust has called on top European Football Clubs to help combat climate change by taking climate action.

According to World Land Trust, this Saturday’s Champions League Final alone will generate around 8,693 tonnes of carbon emissions. “Enough Carbon (CO2) to fill 120,181,248 footballs-as both teams and fans (Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur) will travel to the UEFA Champions League Final this weekend in Madrid from the UK.”

Ahead of the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final-The Sustainability Report, Sports and Sustainability International (SandSI) and Positive Impact Events petitioned the European Club Association chairman, Andrea Agelli to discuss the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC’s) Sports for Climate Action Framework at the association’s next General Assembly.

The UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action Framework was unveiled at COP24 in Katowice, Poland 2018-where influential sporting organizations including FIFA and IOC signed the framework to show their commitment to the Paris Agreement.

The “Sports for Climate Action Framework” tasks sports organizations to measure reduce and offset their carbon emissions. This is to help achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and contribute to the overall target of reducing global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius.

Teams and spectators traveling to football matches produce tonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To help cut back on emissions of travel greenhouse gases, sporting organizations need to encourage a movement towards more fuel-efficient travel and less polluting behaviours.