Galatasaray, Liverpool & Porto on Sustainability in Football

Elite clubs including Liverpool, Galatasaray, Atlético de Madrid, Tottenham Hotspur & FC Porto have been putting sustainability in football on the agenda at COP29.

Sustainability leaders from the 11 clubs, all members of the European Club Association except one special guest, were in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the annual climate event.

The football conference

As part of the event, ECA staged a landmark conference dedicated to addressing climate change through the power of football by launching the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate.

The event, co-presented by the COP29 presidency and co-hosted by ECA member club Qarabağ FK, was designed to put the global game at the forefront of international climate discussions.

ECA said: “The conference highlighted football's capacity to lead by example and inspire collective action in tackling one of the most pressing global challenges: climate change.”

Top clubs at the top table

The executives and clubs in attendance included:

• Teresa Santos from FC Porto, Portugal
• Rishi Jain from Liverpool Football Club, winners of Best ESG Program at Sustainability Magazine’s Sustainability Awards 2024
• Rocío Torres from Club Atlético de Madrid.

The three presented their projects to fight against climate change.

It was followed by two panel discussions, exploring the football sector's impact and responsibilities in combating climate change, both moderated by Sky Sports UK's David Garrido:

1 – Featuring leaders from ECA members Real Betis Balompié (Rafa Muela), Tottenham Hotspur (Marcus Parry) and Udinese Calcio (Magda Pozzo).

2 –  Key insights from ECA’s sustainability team and UNFCCC's Lindita Xhaferi-Salihu, highlighting the objectives of the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate.

The six ECA members then signed the Declaration that constitutes the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate along with Malmö FF, Galatasaray SK, Fenerbahçe SK, Qarabağ FK and special guest from Brazil Clube de Regatas do Flamengo.

Football talk

The clubs and the ECA were pleased with the events – and determined to play their part in cutting global carbon emissions.

Charlie Marshall, ECA CEO, said: "At COP29, ECA acknowledges our responsibility to play an active role in combating the climate crisis.

“We've recently published our first Sustainability Strategy and committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 30% per member by 2030.

“ECA’s real impact lies in our ability to support our members in implementing strategies to reduce their carbon footprints.”

He added: “This is why we are here today: to launch the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate.

“Through this alliance and our collaboration with the UNFCCC’s Sports for Climate Action initiative, we are committed to supporting our clubs every step of the way in their climate action journey.”

Niclas Carlnén, ECA Board Member from Malmö FF and Lead of the ECA Sustainability Working Group, said: “As we launch the Football Clubs Alliance for Climate, we are committing to the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework with the aim of inspiring football clubs across Europe and worldwide to take meaningful climate action.“

Asif Asgarov, ECA Board Member from Qarabağ FK, added: “Today, the clubs gathered are acting as role models for the rest of the football world as we make a stand and take important collective action which seeks to encourage other clubs to join our collective fight against climate change.”

ECA said: “As we look ahead, ECA remains committed to leveraging football's unique influence to drive meaningful change for a sustainable future.”

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