A new “purpose-led” sports consultancy has officially set sail today in a bid to help international sports organisations such as World Curling, World Squash and UK Sport accelerate climate action.
Officially launched this morning, Sporting Giants claims its aim is to steer UK sporting bodies towards greater sustainability across environmental, social and commercial operations.
Although today marks its hard-launch, the consultancy claims to have already worked with four major global sports brands in developing their sustainability strategies across sailing, rugby, tennis and golf.
Moreover, Sporting Giants also claims to have guided 18 international sports rights holders – including Olympic sports and international federations – towards setting and achieving sustainability targets.
And now, working in partnership with UK Sport and environmental consultancy Useful Projects, the venture is also aiming bring 20 national sporting governing bodies on board through a “first-of-a-kind accelerator” for sustainability, with plans afoot to put another 20 organisations through their paces in future, it said.
Sporting Giants’ CEO and co-founder Scott Over said the “synergies between sustainability and business strategy are substantial” and that “we have seen first-hand the significant value that can be achieved by embracing these synergies and galvanising teams–and global sport at large–around this opportunity”.
“There is immense power in collective action and we are incredibly proud to play a part in protecting the future of sport for generations to come,” he added.
The venture was set up by Over and fellow corporate sustainability expert Dan Reading after the pair met as commercial director and head of sustainability, respectively, at World Sailing.
Reading, Sporting Giants’ co-founder and chief sustainability officer, was previously co-chair of the UN’s Sport for Climate Action Framework, and remains a board member of the British Association for Sustainable Sport, and a sustainability commission member for British Triathlon, RNLI and World Squash.
“With 10 consecutive months of record-breaking temperatures, the urgency for all sectors, including sports, to take climate action has never been clearer,” said Reading. “While sport undoubtedly needs to reduce its impact and innovate in response to our greatest threat, its role extends further.
“Sport also possesses a unique ability to engage and inspire fans globally, driving not only environmental action but also significant social impact. By involving our clients in this journey, I’m optimistic about the transformative power of sport to drive meaningful change and help lead the charge towards a more sustainable and inclusive future.”
It comes amid growing green momentum in the world of sport, amid increasing recognition of the climate and environmental impacts on grassroots and professional sporting competitions and events.
A number of sporting bodies and competitions including Formula One, Formula E and Extreme E have recently unveiled updated sustainability strategies and goals, while the likes of the England and Wales Cricket Board and Sport England have mapped out formal measures to address their climate impact, and England’s Premier League football clubs have also agreed to a new set of environmental actions.
Earlier this month the British Standards Institution (BSI) also published a number of revisions to its event sustainability framework, more than 10 years after guidance was initially released for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
You can now sign up to attend the fifth annual Net Zero Festival, which will be hosted by BusinessGreen on October 22-23 at the Business Design Centre in London
