Transfer green: time for a greener strategy for the football transfer window?

On 30th November, on the opening day of COP28, Fly Green Alliance and Sokito hosted a webinar to discuss the transfer window travel, flying, private jet use and sponsorship. Topics which are strongly debated currently in the press.

There was a mix of attendees from South America, Africa, Australia, Europe and the UK including the Welsh FA and The English FA as well as NGOs such as Common Goal. Carbon is a topic that globally we have fallen behind on and support, involvement and leadership from the football industry is welcome. With the mix of opportunity and influence including the ability to influence 5 billion fans and with a yearly revenue of around $3 trillion we believe football can make big progress for and investment in the clean tech industries, something former Arsenal player Mathieu Flamini has done since 2008 when he set up GF Biochemicals and is now leading his green tech venture as CEO. Other deep techs such as sustainable aviation fuel is now beginning to make lower carbon travel a reality and is on the radar of the motorsports industry too. Watch about the science and industry developments in sustainable fuels as well as F1’s commitments in FGA’s new documentary The Golden Bullet.

With travel being a huge part of the game, investing in your key carbon emitter could be a smart move.

In the webinar presentation we played interviews from professional footballer, PAOK’s Will Troost-Ekong describing his experience of carrying out the world’s first carbon offset transfer and getting into the detail of knowing his own footprint and personal data. Will is doing a great job at being a climate ambassador, also in his role as Head of Purpose at Sokito, and is one of the 16 player investors seeing that a low carbon future is the only way to go. Read more in The National here about Will’s call out to clubs, FAs and associations to do more. “The governing bodies, the people really in charge, from the leagues to the Champions League, to UEFA and FIFA … they have to create and enforce policies and set new rules because I think that’s the only way to make a big change.”

Through our calculations and assumptions we discovered the Premier League is the top emitting league. We also found out much more through our work with PACE ESG and City University of London. If you are interested in the results or want to watch the webinar recording then contact sarah@flygreenalliance.org to discuss further.

Sokito and Fly Green Alliance announced the Transfer Green campaign, an initiative to encourage players, clubs, FAs and other stakeholders to take greener transport options during the transfer window.

Liam McSherry, Impact and PR Manager for Sokito commented, “We’re encouraging players and their entourage to understand their travel footprint and look at ways to reduce their impact. It can be as simple as booking an electric vehicle to get to the airport or taking the train to their new club. Small actions with big reach, especially if they share a greener travel choice on social media and tag #transfergreen in their posts.”

Sarah Wilkin, founder & CEO, from Fly Green Alliance “It is great to partner with Sokito on transfer green, Sokito is working to support players change their behaviours and FGA is working with clubs and FAs on the planning and industry side so together we make a strong team. We will work hard to make transfer green a reality.”

Starting by knowing your data, with a simple calculation and then influencing when you can. We propose some steps to start. The WWF calculator is easy to use, shows averages and asks questions about your lifestyle choices which is a start to knowing your personal numbers.

For clubs and FAs we propose an approach to ensure collaboration, and data awareness and transparency on a move towards scoring zeros. For once we want the score to be nil on all of the carbon footprints and roadmaps by 2030. Liverpool FC led the way with The Red Way by buying green electricity meaning they have a zero against emissions there. Now for the challenging task of turning the rest of the board to zeros too.

Can it be done? Join Transfer green to be part of an industry group and movement working to influence the way football travels and ensure we are all working to a low carbon world. Start by hashtagging #transfergreen on social posts.

You can also read more about mobility in sport and Transfer green in the recent The Sustainability Report article.

Do you want to know more about transfer green contact sarah@flygreenalliance.org or liam@sokito.com.

Fly Green Alliance’s next industry webinar is 8th March, sign up here.