Phase 1 of our strategy (2022-25) included a ‘key move’ to ‘be a more globally responsible charity’.
Phase 2 of our strategy (2025-28) sees this ‘key move’ adapted to ‘take action to reduce our environmental impact’.
Commitment
We have developed an Environmental & Sustainability Policy (available to view on the right-hand side of this page) which sets out our commitment to Net Zero by 2050, including carbon reduction targets. The policy also sets out our environmental management framework, which is the basis for our environmental and sustainability action planning.
We have underlined our commitment by signed Sport England’s ‘Going for Green Pledge’, which includes agreeing to promote environmental sustainability by:
- Reducing energy and water usage
- Champion walking, cycling and lift sharing when travelling to activities
- Drastically reduce reliance on single use plastics
- Recycling waste and increasing the reuse of sports equipment and kit
- Boosting activity to nurture nature and wildlife.
Impact
Since January 2023, we have been using an ESG impact measurement tool, FuturePlus, to benchmark, monitor and externally validate our progress. The tool includes a wide range of sustainability factors, with 250 indicators across 5 themes – Climate, Diversity & Inclusion, Social, Economic, and Environmental. Our scores are summarised in our Annual Sustainability Statements and further detail can be found in our FuturePlus Reports (latest documents available to view on the right-hand side of this page).
An initial assessment of our carbon emissions was undertaken for the 2023/24 financial year using the PlusCarbon platform. This included our scope 1 and scope 2 emissions, plus our most significant scope 3 emissions.
Of our emissions, we found that the largest contributions came from our business travel (40%), and employee commuting (52%). We will be measuring our future progress against this 2023/24 benchmark year and reporting this through our Annual Sustainability Statements. Further details can be found in our PlusCarbon Reports (latest version available to view on the right-hand side of this page).
Action
Our sustainability actions are driven through ongoing FuturePlus assessments, which generate a ‘Roadmap’ (see FuturePlus Report). Progress is also reported through our Annual Sustainability Statements.
Our primary focus is on reducing our scope 3 carbon emissions.