Sport
Carbon Literacy Toolkit for Sport
Sports are undoubtedly a vital part of life for many people, providing a source of fun and connection, and supporting healthy living. At the same time, the sector also has a significant carbon footprint. Encompassing everything from international tournaments and large teams to grassroots clubs and personal sports activities, the sector creates emissions in various ways.
Why Carbon Literacy® for the Sports Sector?
The sports sector greatly impacts the environment due to its sheer volume and reach. The global sports industry is responsible for approximately 350 million tonnes of CO2e. Noting the sector’s impact, many sports organisations and governing bodies have made net-zero targets, with 270+ signatories of the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action (SfCA) and the ‘Race to Zero’.
Additionally, the sector has incredible influence, playing a big part in millions, if not billions, of people’s lives. Fans, participants, staff, and volunteers of all ages engage with sports, and thus there is a distinct opportunity for the sports sector to empower people and ignite climate action.
The Carbon Literacy Project Sports Kit will support your organisation’s carbon-reduction action and give you and your peers the confidence to speak on climate change while encouraging others to act. The Kit combines the knowledge of sector specialists in sports sustainability and CLP’s expertise in creating sector-specific Carbon Literacy courses. It will enable the global sports community to improve its understanding of the importance and relevance of climate change within the sector.
The Carbon Literacy Sports Kit can catalyse climate action at all levels of the sports sector, be it a sports governing body, a professional club, a community team, or a venue. It was developed with support from the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games organising committee and piloted with support from UK Sport and BASIS.
Carbon Literacy training will help the sector address its climate impact and, in doing so, use sports as a unifying tool to drive climate awareness and action. The training ensures that everyone has the same level of knowledge about climate change, allowing learners to address sector-wide and organisational challenges.
Key Questions
The Sports Kit is designed to be used by anyone working, volunteering, or otherwise participating in the sports sector – you don’t have to be a climate change expert to deliver successful Carbon Literacy training. The trainer manual provides all information and instructions needed to deliver course content and activities.
Sector Toolkits are designed for specific sector audiences, and content matches that sector’s needs and roles.
If you come from outside the sports sector, you may still purchase the Sports Kit. However, you would need to adapt the materials to suit your specific audience and reaccredit them with us as a new Carbon Literacy course.
Training organisations or consultants wanting to deliver the Sports Kit materials or adapt them for new sectors or audiences should contact us at sport@carbonliteracy.com.
The Sports Kit is a complete Carbon Literacy course – containing everything needed for Carbon Literacy training in the sports sector. This includes a slide deck, a detailed trainer manual, and interactive activity resources to support engagement.
Although the Sports Kit course must be delivered as outlined, there are many elements and activities that can be modified and made more specific, depending on your sport, location, and organisation type.
As a complete Carbon Literacy course, The Sports Kit eliminates the development time associated with course creation. Our team will update the Sports Kit yearly to ensure the latest science, policy, and sports-related content is included. You can focus on tailoring the Kit to your audience and planning your training.
The Sports Kit will be launched in late April 2023.
If you’d like to access the materials from April or want to learn more, please get in touch with sport@carbonliteracy.com.
If you are from an organisation that hasn’t had contact with The Carbon Literacy Project before, we will normally have a chat with you online to provide you with an introduction to Carbon Literacy and an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.
Between April and October 2023, the Sports Kit will be free to use for a limited period. From October 2023, we will be implementing a licensing model for our Toolkits. Purchasing a license provides you with access to the Sports Kit and annual updates within that period. Science, policy, case studies, activities, and resources are among the content that will be updated.
The cost for a Toolkit license will be on a sliding scale, dependent on your organisation’s annual turnover. Get in touch at sport@carbonliteracy.com to discuss license prices with us.
After you have delivered Carbon Literacy within your organisation using the Sports Kit, there is a per-person certificate application fee. This is either £10, £20, or £30, depending on your organisation’s annual turnover. More information on certificate application prices can be found in our Price Matrix here. Note that public sector bodies are capped at £10 regardless of income/budget.
Making the Case
One of the most common queries from sporting organisations is for advice and support persuading colleagues of the social and economic case for rolling out Carbon Literacy. Upon training completion, participants will often feedback that the training speaks for itself with many of the co-benefits of reducing emissions being clearly examined and explored during the session, however we are aware that some organisations sometimes need a little extra support, which is why we have curated the resources below.
Below are some resources, free for you to use, to help you make that case.
Sports' Carbon Footprint
Read about the carbon footprint of the sport sector at both international and grassroots levels.
Creating the Sports Kit
Hear how the Sports Kit was co-created with Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.
Climate Action in Sport
Learn about the variety of action that is being taken across the Sports sector to tackle climate change.
The Role of Sport
Watch the replay of 'The Role of Sport in Combating Climate Change' hosted by the United Nations.
Courses
Sport Generic Staff Course
Course now available to request, please email sport@carbonliteracy.com for more information.
"We need to face up to this major challenge, partly because of the health and quality of life of our own residents. We want to clean up the air that they breathe, we want to reduce the use of plastic that's cluttering our rivers and our green spaces. We want to put Greater Manchester in a position of leadership on this crucial issue that will shape the 21st century, but if we are to succeed it does require radical action now."
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester
“Some of the most important training I've ever done... I thought I knew about climate change, carbon reduction, and sustainability, I thought we were doing our bit, and then I went on a Carbon Literacy course. One day out of a busy diary, but boy did it make a massive difference. I was wrong on so many things that I thought I knew about."
Alice Webb, Director of BBC North
"The Carbon Literacy training opened my eyes to the scale of the challenge in front of us and at the same time helped define what I could do in my work and personal life to help deliver net zero. I would recommend this training for everyone with an interest in the future of our planet."
Fergus Murray, Head of Economic Development and Growth, Argyll and Bute Council
“As a sector with stewardship and community at our heart, we have a responsibility to understand what is happening to our planet, take positive environmental action and engage with our communities in this process.”
Kaye Hardyman, Museum Development North West
“Since the training has been completed our Green Energy Advisor has been inundated with requests from our teams to provide energy advice to our tenants... Based on the pledges the staff made during the training, the estimated initial carbon saving is 77 tonnes CO2.”
Northwards Housing – Platinum CLO
Request a Course
To request access to the Sport Toolkit, please Contact Us listing ‘Sports Toolkit’ as the subject. Please include the following:
- Your sporting organisation / email address
- Why you are interested in these courses?
- Your plans for roll-out (if at this stage of thinking)
If you’d prefer not to use the contact form, please email us at sport@carbonliteracy.com