Reducing Emissions in Sport: Where the Puck Do I Start?

It’s been dubbed the greatest global challenge to ever face humanity. Unlike some global challenges however, like stopping Lionel Messi, we know the solution to this one. We know that to reduce the human-caused impacts of climate change we need to reduce global carbon emissions, and we know the way to do that is to reduce the burning of fossil fuels.

The Global Carbon Project estimates that 91% of global carbon emissions in 2022 came from fossil fuels.

Carbon emissions are one of the three major impacts that the sporting world has on the environment. As the world transitions to a low-carbon economy and businesses are required to provide net-zero strategies, the sporting world gets no exemption.

Professional and amateur sport teams, leagues, and organizations all understand that they need to reduce their carbon emissions, but where do you start? That is the question holding so many organizations back from embarking on their net-zero journey.

To find some answers, we spoke with the Director of Sustainability for the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, Brianna Treat.

Who are the Seattle Kraken and What is Climate Pledge Arena?

The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). Their home ice surface is called the Climate Pledge Arena which holds 17,151 spectators for NHL games. The arena is also home to the WNBA’s Seattle Storm which can seat a capacity of 18,300 for basketball games.

The arena is the first net-zero carbon arena in the world and embarks on other sustainability initiatives like banning single-use plastics by 2024, and a goal to divert 95% of all waste from landfills.

The arena is also pursuing International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Zero Energy Certification. This certifies that there is no fossil fuel use on-site (☑), all energy comes from renewable sources (☑), and all Scope 3 emissions are tracked, measured, and disclosed (in progress).

In the carbon counting world, there are 3 scopes of emissions. Scope 1 emissions are those created as a direct result of business activities. Scope 2 emissions are emissions created from the bought electricity, heating, and cooling that power business operations. Finally, Scope 3 emissions are the emissions generated in the supply chain, both upstream and downstream, of any given business.

The Climate Pledge Arena has solar panels on-site and sources the rest of their electricity needs from off-site renewable energy farms. From keeping the ice and the beer cold, to ensuring the fans are warm and the food is hot, all energy at Climate Pledge Arena is sourced from zero-emission, renewable energy sources. “Everything from our forklifts, Zambonis, boilers, and chillers, to all of our kitchen equipment – it’s all electric. We are the only all-electric arena in the world,” says Treat.

Reducing Carbon Emissions: Where Do You Start?

“You have to start somewhere, and tracking and measuring is the only way to know where you’re at and where to go next,” says Treat. “We dissected every operation of the building to find out what emissions are associated with our operations.”

They identified emissions associated with merchandise, food, waste, team/performer travel, and the biggest source of them all — fan travel. With those primary emissions sources identified, they then had to communicate their carbon ambitions with suppliers and begin to collect carbon emissions data.

“We sat down with suppliers and told them our climate goals; that we needed their buy-in or there was no way we’re going to be able to work together,” explains Treat. The Kraken now receive regular carbon emissions data from their suppliers that they use to construct a carbon map of the team’s, and the building’s, carbon emissions.

In the beginning, when everything seems so complex, the most important thing is just to start. Don’t worry that you need to identify every ounce of carbon. As the ball gets rolling, you can begin to expand and incorporate other sources of emissions that you hadn’t initially identified.

“Odesza came for three back-to-back shows last year, and while we were sitting there I thought to myself, crap, that’s a lot of pyrotechnics that they’re using and that’s a source of Scope 1 emissions that we aren’t accounting for,” laughs Treat while recounting her realization. “Year after year we’ll continue to update what data we’re collecting, how we’re collecting it, and if we’re missing anything.”

How do you Measure and Reduce Emissions from Fan Travel?

It’s estimated that over 85% of GHG emissions related to sporting events are due to the travel and accommodation of spectators. Gathering the data on this, as you can imagine, can be a bit tricky. How do you know which mode of transport each person took to the game, and how much carbon is associated with that? Then, how do you reduce those emissions that you don’t have much control over?

After every event at Climate Pledge Arena, a survey gets sent out via email to each attendee. “You know when you go to an event and the next day you get an email sort of like, how’d we do?” says Treat. “We send those out to our attendees and include some sustainability questions. Right now, we have a 25% response rate with that.”

Using those responses they are able to build an estimate of the modes of transport taken by attendees, and using available emissions data can build a snapshot of what the emissions from fan travel look like for each event.

As far as reducing those emissions, they have partnered with Seattle’s public transportation to offer all event ticketholders free public transport 2 hours before, and after, each event. 

Steps to Success For Reducing Carbon Emissions in Sport

The NHL team and their arena are awaiting the results of two independent audits of their first year carbon data assessment before they make those numbers available to the public. This will give them a better understanding of where their carbon hotspots are and where reduction efforts can be focused, as well as holding them publicly accountable to their sustainability ambitions. It will provide baseline numbers and set an example for other organizations to follow.

One of the most important aspects of their sustainability journey has been the buy-in from their ownership group. “That support from leadership drives everything. It’s huge. The support from the top down makes it a lot easier for my sustainability projects to get passed through and include sustainability in the budget,” says Treat.

Leadership groups looking to build a sustainability strategy can find help by exploring different government resources, grants, and tax incentives. Private partnerships can attract sustainable investment dollars or helpful resources. Amazon bought the naming rights to Seattle’s arena, naming it after the business collaboration they co-founded, The Climate Pledge, and is providing resources for the team to support them on their sustainability journey.

As well, organizations like SandSI or the Green Sports Alliance Play to Zero tool can provide very useful information and guidance for organizations who are ready to take that next sustainability step.

Start thinking about where carbon emissions in your organization come from, make a list, and then go on a data gathering mission. You can expand and improve your accuracy once you get going, but getting that process in motion is the all-important first step.