In collaboration with the UK Sport funded Useful Projects, the BF Environmental Committee has produced a summary report of our baseline carbon footprint.
In March 2023, UK Sport published its Environmental Sustainability Strategy which includes a goal for high performance sport to have a net positive impact on the environment by 2040.
UK Sport calculated their first operational carbon footprint in 2022, appreciating that this represented only 6% of their expenditure. 94% of UK Sport’s expenditure is provided as funding to the high-performance sport sector.
Therefore, in 2023 UK Sport appointed Useful Projects and Sporting Giants to deliver an environmental sustainability support programme for its funded NGBs (the ‘Accelerator Programme’). The programme supported the NGBs to calculate their operational carbon footprint and develop an environmental sustainability action plan in line with the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.
The Useful Projects and Sporting Giants team supported the British Fencing team to calculate this base year operational carbon footprint using the Useful Projects Get Set Zero carbon footprint tool. The Get Set Zero tool accounts for carbon emissions of the organisation in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol ‘Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard’ methodology and principles.
Utilising the Useful Projects Get Set Zero tool, the British Fencing team have estimated their operational carbon footprint for the FY 22/23 using the best available data.
For this base year calculation, the British Fencing team replied upon spend-based data to estimate emissions from business travel, accommodation, and purchased goods and services. This spend-based data should be replaced with activity-specific (e.g., distance) data for future calculations.
This base year carbon footprint report provides British Fencing with a first estimate of their carbon emissions impact. This is the first step in the operational emissions reduction process; measurement to enable management. It is recommended that the carbon footprint calculation is repeated annually to measure any reductions made and track progress towards targets. Annual measurement and reporting is a requirement of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.
The next step in the UK Sport Accelerator Programme is the development of an external-facing environmental sustainability action plan. This action plan will include carbon reduction targets, developed through this understanding of the operational carbon hotspots. It will also focus on broader environmental sustainability outcomes.
The action plan will include British Fencing’s environmental sustainability vision, external commitments, priority areas, and targets with delivery timeframes, responsibilities, and methodology.
For more information on this carbon footprint, please contact:
British Fencing: Neil Brown ([email protected])
Useful Projects: Kate Boylan ([email protected])
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