UEFA Announces Climate Action Plan for EURO 2020

October 4, 2019 

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has announced a major investment in tackling climate change issues around the UEFA EURO 2020 tournament that will include planting 50,000 trees in each of the 12 host countries.

In addition, it will invest in gold standard renewable energy projects in partnership with the social entrepreneur organization, South Pole, to offset the estimated 405,000 tonnes of carbon produced by fans and staff travelling to games in the tournament.

The UEFA EURO 2020 tournament will take place in multiple countries across the continent. The nature of the tournament means there is no need either to build new stadiums or infrastructure in the various host cities, which carry a huge environmental cost in concrete and other resources. 

But it also has a cost - with increased travel for fans to watch their teams play; UEFA plans to offset the carbon footprint of this travel through an array of green initiatives.

Announcing the plan, Čeferin said, “UEFA takes its responsibilities on this seriously and it is right that we offset the carbon emissions that causes. Working with South Pole will help to build gold standard renewable energy projects, which will be of lasting value to the planet.

"In addition, we wanted to celebrate the 60 years of the European Championships and combining that with an environmental legacy is a logical choice. Some 600,000 trees will be planted - 50,000 in each of the 12 host countries. I believe this will help all those communities benefit from EURO 2020 having been played there."

UEFA is a signatory to the UN Sports for Climate Action Initiative.

Beyond Sport is similarly committed to harnessing the power and platform of sport to address climate issues - that’s why this year we created the Sport for Climate Action Collective Impact Award, supported by the Swedish Postcode Foundation. Learn more about about this cutting-edge initiative here.