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Chelsea FC: Chelsea featured in climate action monitoring report

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Chelsea FC: Chelsea featured in climate action monitoring report

Brentford FC
Club News

A freshly published independent report, produced with participation from Premier League clubs, shows goals are being scored when it comes to action on sustainability at the top level of the game.

Sports Positive, which aims to support the global sports industry in playing a role in tackling climate and biodiversity crises, launched a Premier League sustainability table in 2019 to highlight the environmental sustainability initiatives of top-flight professional clubs. At Chelsea, we were able to increase our points scored each season the table was published.

Now, five years on, the organisation acknowledges that sustainability in football has ‘moved on a lot’ and in this different era with clubs engaging frequently on environmental matters, Sports Positive changed from its league table and instead has published an extensive report – with the aim of disseminating and amplifying club activities to inspire others.

With Premier League clubs contributing directly with information, it is a huge piece of work – over 250 pages long – and it acknowledges upward trends.

Here, to make it digestible from a Chelsea viewpoint, we pick out key areas of improvement which are highlighted within the report, and describe our ongoing efforts at raising our sustainability standards still further:

Playing it positive

  • Chelsea is listed as one of nine Premier League clubs that recycle and reuse water at our facilities.
  • We are highlighted as one of the clubs that divert 100 per cent of waste generated so none ends up in landfill, with substantive recycling efforts made. In fact, our waste management strategy and system segregates recyclable waste across all the club’s operational areas.
  • Our vegan food offerings are described in detail in the report and recognising the importance of plant-based food in environmental sustainability, we were in fact the first club in the Premier League to have a fully vegan kiosk for food.
  • Summing up some other areas outlined by Sports Positive, our 100 per cent of energy from renewable sources, our single-use plastic reduction, the education programmes run by the Chelsea Foundation, and encouragement we gave for fans to take part in Green Football Weekend are all listed.

Work in progress

  • As a club, we are currently developing an understanding of our emissions so we can target the largest emission sources. Our eventual goal, following the necessary research involved, is to set a net-zero target for carbon emissions so we join the Sports Positive list of six clubs that have done so.
  • We do not have on-site renewable energy generation at our facilities but we are currently evaluating our approach, to asses any opportunity for this in the future.
  • Although we have not as yet instigated a dedicated fan travel survey, in a recent general survey of our support there were questions included about how fans travel for games, which will help the club continue to make strategic decisions to achieve our sustainability objectives.