05 Oct 2022
Getting to grips with measuring, tracking and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a challenge facing many sports, events and organizations and has quickly become an important consideration for golf clubs and courses, associations, tournaments, tours, players and sponsors.
Tournaments, for example, are often the shop window of the sport with the power to influence and inspire. Yet these events can have a significant carbon footprint, and as more and more parts of the sport commit to a pathway to net zero with targets to reduce GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, it is imperative to measure carbon emissions to manage and reduce.
To make it easier to act, two years of collaborative and scientific-based work have brought forward significant steps to demystify the process and bring climate action into the suite of credible and practical solutions provided by GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf in partnership with dozens of golf and sustainability NGOs and experts around the world.
This platform, which can include advisory, data collection and carbon footprinting, reporting, certification, mitigation and reduction planning, is part of a comprehensive approach to climate action and net zero pathways for golf, aligned to UN Greenhouse Gas Protocol and UN Sport for Climate Action Framework.
Custom-fit
While it’s important to align to frameworks, some tailoring is important to make the process practical and the outcome fit-for-purpose. For example, the UN frameworks mentioned above provide the structure to measure Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions, and are normally applied to organisations, products or services. A credible carbon footprint for temporary events, such as a golf tournament, need some special consideration since Scopes 1 and 2 contribute only a small part of an event’s footprint.
In collaboration with WM, GEO Foundation have put together a guide for looking at carbon footprinting for temporary events in new way that better represents the staging of temporary events, looking at a “core” and “advanced” GHG footprint of an event.
A greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint is the measure of the total GHG emissions caused by an activity or group of activities, and in order to measure the GHG footprint of an event, we look at the emissions caused by all individuals, organizations, operations, services, and products associated with the event.
The Core footprint includes event controlled or influenced emissions, central to operations of the event. These include energy, waste, water, transport, freight and haulage and core event organiser, contractor or volunteer travel and accommodation. These are closest to the sphere of influence for an event and include all Scope 1 and 2 emissions and some Scope 3.
The Advanced footprint includes associated emissions and/or upstream and downstream emissions, still a key factor in an event but further from the direct control of the event organiser. These include products and materials for retail, food and beverage, infrastructure and construction as well as travel and accommodation of guests, players and their entourage, media and spectators.
The Tailored footprint boundaries, appropriate for large temporary field-based events, are fully aligned to GEO Certified® Tournament and Facility Standards. Additionally, this model is consistent with the approach and tools for golf association operations; clubs and venues; and professional players, helping golf to more quickly and effectively take collective action to reduce its footprint.
You can find out more about climate solutions for golf by exploring Driving Net Zero here.
To find out more about Sustainable Golf Week and GEO Foundation and how to get involved, visit sustainable.golf/sustainablegolfweek or follow @sustainablegolf on social media.
