MÜHLEN. Sport, as a mass movement, is part of the system that contributes to the climate crisis. Nevertheless, the sports community can demonstrate what is collectively achievable to address the challenges of climate change.
This led to the idea of developing the "CO2 Calculator for Clubs" – a joint project with the Freiburger Kreis and TSC Eintracht Dortmund, in collaboration with myclimate, which was developed in recent months. In a digital webinar on Monday, June 19, 2023, the partners presented the calculator to the public and more than 120 interested club representatives for the first time. The CO2 calculator is now integrated and accessible on the Sports for Future website.
"After almost two years from idea to implementation, we are delighted to present the free CO2 calculator for sports clubs today. This now gives smaller sports clubs the opportunity to calculate their own emissions and derive corresponding actions for climate protection," says Stefan Wagner, Chairman of Sports for Future.
Dr. Alexander Kiel, Board Member of the Freiburger Kreis and Chairman of the Board of TSC Eintracht Dortmund: "The 190 major sports clubs in the Freiburger Kreis contribute significantly to the German sports infrastructure with their own sports facilities. The CO2 calculator helps club boards identify their most significant leverage points in the fight against climate change and prioritize their climate protection projects."
"The measurement of our CO2 footprint has shown that we need to address the mobility of our members in the future. The fact that the mobility associated with training and competitions accounts for such a large share of our greenhouse gas emissions surprised us," says Jan Engel, Head of Communication and Climate Protection Officer at TSC Eintracht Dortmund.
Alina Feucht, Corporate Partnerships Manager myclimate Deutschland gGmbH: "With around 87,000 clubs and several million members in Germany, sports can bring climate protection issues to society and thus take on a role model function. We are therefore pleased to create, with the sports club calculator, an easily accessible way for the carbon footprint calculation of sports clubs and to support them in implementing targeted reduction measures and tracking their effects."
Sports for Future has been bringing together associations, clubs, and athletes since 2019 to actively engage in climate protection within a strong sports network. The network aims to activate the sports world: to inspire and awaken, engage in dialogue and take a stand, show examples and pool forces, initiate collaborations and develop ideas, promote projects, and increase expertise. Thus, the idea for this project was initially developed in collaboration with the Freiburger Kreis.
Sports for Future ensured the financing: the development of the CO2 calculator was financially supported by the "Stiftung Allianz für Entwicklung und Klima" (Alliance for Development and Climate Foundation) in addition to the own funds of Sports for Future e.V. The Freiburger Kreis and TSC Eintracht Dortmund ensured meticulous data collection and coordination. The non-profit climate protection organization myclimate, a leading provider of climate protection financing, awareness, and consulting, took care of the scientific and technical implementation as well as the project's supervision. A strong partnership.
Many amateur clubs lack the personnel and financial resources to track their own emissions and climate impact potentials. The daily operations of a club, including administration, training, and multiple team and sport activities, cannot be adequately covered by conventional CO2 calculators available in the market. Through the joint project, amateur clubs now have, for the first time, an openly accessible way to calculate their carbon footprint. This involves capturing data such as mobility to competitions, sports events, energy and water consumption, and waste generation. It provides opportunities for implementing reduction measures.
The low-threshold calculation of the carbon footprint aims to embed awareness of emerging CO2 emissions in the structures of German sports clubs in a sustainable manner. The goal is to strengthen understanding of climate protection and their own carbon footprint in sports clubs, providing impulses for targeted CO2 avoidance and reduction—both within the clubs themselves and beyond.
Moreover, sports play an important societal role, allowing them to take on a role model function regarding climate protection. The results from the CO2 club calculator can be used to create awareness for climate protection in sports clubs among their members, who can then carry this awareness into other societal areas. This way, climate protection in sports clubs can gain increased societal attention. Additionally, involving politics can ensure financial and structural support for sports clubs, enabling them to act in a climate-protective manner based on data in the long term and sustainably.
The CO2 calculator is available to sports clubs free of charge. The more clubs input their data into the calculator, the more accurate the empirical values can be stored. This allows clubs not only to assess their emissions but also to derive, implement, and recalculate sustainable measures from the recommendations to reflect their savings.
Ansprechpartner:
Sports for Future e.V.
Stefan Wagner
stefan@sportsforfuture.de
+49 (0) 170 5568636
DE