Toronto Star

Soccer: English team goes on environmen­tal kick

- JAMES BROOKS THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NAILSWORTH, ENGLAND— One-nil for the environmen­talists.

An English soccer team has become the first profession­al sports team in the world to be certified carbon-neutral by the United Nations.

Forest Green Rovers, which plays in English soccer’s fourth tier, has adopted a number of environmen­tally friendly measures, from using electric vehicles, to veganonly meals for players, staff and fans.

The club’s 2,000-seat stadium in the quiet town of Nailsworth, England, is powered entirely by renewable energy, about 20 per cent of which by solar panels.

Chairman Dale Vince, who also owns a renewable energy company, took control of the club in 2010 and quickly set to reshaping its policies.

“Football clubs can influence society to create change,” he said. “And to do that, they’ve got to set a good example.”

The UN’s Climate Neutral Now initiative aims to encourage all parts of society to take action against climate change. Applicants must measure their greenhouse gas emissions, then reduce them as much as possible.

Miguel Naranjo, a program officer at the United Nations’ Climate Change Secretaria­t, said it’s a way to help people understand how they can reduce emissions in their everyday life.

“It’s the small things that make a big difference,” said Naranjo.

Forest Green Rovers’ plantbased menu was granted a vegan trademark by the Vegan Society last year. The team claims to be the world’s first fully-vegan soccer club. While the players are not committed to being vegan outside of team meals, several of them say they are.

The pitch, meanwhile, is tended without pesticides. And rather than driving a gas-powered mower, groundskee­pers use a solarpower­ed robotic lawn mower.

Environmen­talists have praised the approach. Jamie Peters, a campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said the club has shown leadership, “to show that these things can be done at scale.”

And being environmen­tally friendly seems compatible with sporting success, too. Last year, the club was promoted to the English Football League, the fourth tier, for the first time in its 129-year history.

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