Why Sustainability Should Be An Important Consideration In Australian Sport
Society / Sustainable Investing
It is no secret that Australian sports use up a lot of natural resources which can negatively affect the environment, but steps are being taken to cut down the use of resources and minimise the carbon footprint. 2015 saw the creation of the Sports Environment Alliance (SEA) for the Australasian region, and there are two more alliances in the United Kingdom and North America. The alliance looks to focus on cutting down emissions and waste and to educate the sporting leagues and teams, as well as the public in general.
SEA regularly attends global environmental conferences, where discussions are held by global alliance board members about what more can be done about the global carbon footprint in the sporting world. Many sporting corporations are represented at these events including Cricket Australia, Football Australia, the AFL, Golf Australia, and the Australian Olympic Committee.
With the upcoming Big Bash League in 2023, steps have been taken at various venues around Australia to combat waste. The Melbourne Cricket Ground in particular has made several changes in the past few years including water recycling, changing lighting to LED bulbs, and composting waste. Many other venues all over the world are making similar changes as well as some no longer using single-use plastics and planting additional trees.
Also, in Australia when new venues are built or existing ones are upgraded, sustainability options are worked into the planning stage.
Stadium Australia, also known as Accor Stadium, in Sydney’s Olympic Park was built in 1999 for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and is considered one of the most environmentally sustainable stadiums in the world. It has world-leading sustainable projects such as the recycling of water which is initially collected from rainwater on the roof and transferred to holding tanks under the stadium which have a capacity of 2 million litres. The water used for flushing toilets is recycled by sending it to a local treatment plant where it is treated and sent back for reuse. The design of the stadium itself has utilised the use of natural heating and cooling as well as ventilation. The roof was designed in a way that uses less steel than other venues and the lighting of the stadium also uses LED globes which consume far less power than conventional globes.
In February 2012, the Government of Western Australia created an Environment Sustainability Pack for Sport and Recreation Organisations with general information about the current environmental issues and what they can do to help with being more sustainable. More and more sporting organisations are making major changes to their infrastructure such as conserving and recycling water, installing solar panels, reducing waste, and preserving biodiversity.
Sports stars are using their considerable platform to help promote sustainability to the general public. Athletes such as AFL footballer Lance Franklin, test cricketer Pat Cummins, gold-medal-winning Olympic skier Alisa Camplin and many more are all doing what they can to promote awareness about the importance of sustainability for the environment and pressure the Australian government to make changes.
With climate change still occurring, it is more important than ever for all big conglomerates to take swift and decisive action and do what they can to combat the use of greenhouse gases. Companies like SEA and their members and partners are excelling in the education and utilization of sustainable projects, and major steps such as this will give hope for the health and future of our planet.
Society / Sustainable Investing
Why Sustainability Should Be An Important Consideration In Australian Sport
