Sport Environment and Climate Coalition statement on climate change and environmental sustainability
Sport, recreation and physical activity is enjoyed by millions of participants and fans across the country from grassroots to the elite, delivering huge social and economic value through improved health and wellbeing, connecting communities and supporting economic growth.
And our natural and built environment provides the places and spaces for people to be active in any way they choose – from pitches, parks, courts and swimming pools to mountains, rivers, coasts and lakes.
But climate change and wider environmental degradation as a result of pollution, biodiversity loss and resource consumption present a clear threat both to our way of life and to our sector.
We therefore need to change the way we operate now to reduce our environmental impact and contribute to wider efforts to reach net zero. And we must take steps to protect the environment within which sport, recreation and physical activity takes place so that our many millions of participants and future generations can continue to enjoy it in the coming decades.
And ultimately the urgency of the task we now face requires leadership – all of us have a role to play in maximising the enormous power and reach of sport, recreation and physical activity to inspire positive environmental and climate action.
In this context, the signatories to this statement have come together to establish a UK-wide, cross-sector approach comprising the following elements:
- Creation of the Sport Environment and Climate Coalition (SECC) to lead and coordinate the sector’s efforts on climate change and environmental sustainability. The group will harness the sector’s collective resources to help reduce the environmental impact of sport, recreation and physical activity and contribute to the UK’s transition to net zero.
- An assessment of the current level of awareness, understanding and action on climate change and environmental sustainability to identify the support needed to help the sector adapt and become more sustainable in the long term.
- Development of an ambitious roadmap setting out how the sector will transition to net zero alongside the provision of advice, guidance and support to organisations in the sector to improve their environmental sustainability.
- A collective commitment to place tackling inequalities at the heart of the sector’s efforts to transition to net zero and become more environmentally sustainable.
- Creation of a sector-wide campaign to highlight the importance of climate change and environmental sustainability and leverage the power and reach of sport, recreation and physical activity to drive positive action.
Achieving our collective ambition on climate change and environmental sustainability will require a collaborative approach and as a group we are committed to working in partnership with our members, partners and government at national and local level to deliver meaningful change.
Members of the Sport Environment and Climate Coalition (SECC) are:
The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE)
The British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS)
ENDS
Notes to editors
For media enquiries, in the first instance please contact Florrie Maxwell on 0207 976 3912 or fmaxwell@sportandrecreation.org.uk.
About Active Partnerships
Our core purpose is to create the conditions for an active nation in a sustainable way.
There are 42 Active Partnerships across England use the power of sport and physical activity to transform lives. We collaborate with local partners across all sports, activities, providers, and audiences, focused on the needs of our local communities to create the conditions for an active nation. We focus our efforts on inactive people and under- represented groups who will benefit the most from an active lifestyle.
Active Partnerships are organisations that recognise activity levels are affected by a complex system of influences and no single organisation or programme can create sustainable change at scale. We use a collaborative whole system approach and do that in a sustainable and climate friendly way, to make active lifestyles the social norm for everyone that benefits themselves, their wider community and the planet whilst addressing the worrying levels of inactivity across England.
For more information visit: www.activepartnerships.org
About The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE)
The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) is owned by its members and, working on their behalf, maintains and develops a network of local government officers, managers and councillors from local authorities across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Through the extensive APSE network, more than 300 local authorities and organisations are able to share information and expertise on vital frontline services, ask for advice and innovative solutions, and develop new, viable ways forward in an effort to help one another.
A key part of this network is APSE’s Sports and Leisure Management Group, which focusses mainly on the effective management of sports centres and swimming pools. The Group holds regular advisory groups and seminars across the UK. APSE also runs an extensive research and briefings programme. Our latest report – Securing the Future of Public Sport and Leisure Services – is a collaboration with the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Chief Cultural and Leisure Officers Association (CLOA), and examines how we can ensure the survival of public sport and leisure services in the wake of the pandemic. You can download the report for free here.
For more information visit: www.apse.org.uk.
About The British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS)
BASIS is the sustainability hub for the sports sector in the UK. We are a not-for-profit committed to delivering a positive impact for sport at every level and to harnessing the power of sport to build a sustainable future for all. We do this by helping our members to introduce, integrate and share sustainability best practices into all aspects of their operations. We facilitate collaboration between a range of clubs and venues interested in and concerned with sustainability and sport. Finally, we use the reach of sport to educate communities, participants and fans about sustainability issues and lead the debate on climate change and sport.
For more information visit: www.basis.org.uk
About Sport and Recreation Alliance
The Sport and Recreation Alliance believes that the power of sport and recreation can change lives and bring communities together. Together with over 300 members and in partnership with the wider sector, we make the most of opportunities and tackle the areas that provide a challenge.
We deliver advice, support and guidance to our members and the sector who represent traditional governing bodies of games and sport, active partnerships, outdoor recreation, water pursuits and movement and dance exercise.
As the voice of the sector, we work with Government, policy makers and the media to make sure grassroots sport and recreation grows and thrives. Having an active nation is important as it delivers huge benefits to society and the millions of participants, volunteers, staff and spectators.
For more information visit: www.sportandrecreation.org.uk.
About Sport England
Sport England is a public body and invests up to £300 million National Lottery and government money each year in projects and programmes that help people get active and play sport. It wants everyone in England, regardless of age, background, or level of ability, to feel able to engage in sport and physical activity. That’s why a lot of its work is specifically focused on helping people who do no, or very little, physical activity and groups who are typically less active – like women, disabled people, and people on lower incomes.
For more information visit: www.sportengland.org
About Sport Scotland
sportscotland is the national agency for sport. It is a non-departmental public body, responsible through ministers to the Scottish Parliament. It is a National Lottery Fund distributor and is governed by National Lottery distribution rules. sportscotland invest Scottish Government and National Lottery resources to build a world-class sporting system for everyone in Scotland.
For more information visit: www.sportscotland.org.uk
About Sport Wales
We want Wales to be a more active, healthier nation. We are the national organisation responsible for developing and promoting sport and physical activity in Wales.
For more information visit: www.sport.wales
About ukactive
ukactive is the UK’s leading not-for-profit membership body for the physical activity sector, bringing together more than 4,000 member organisations and partners in our shared ambition to get More People, More Active, More Often. From gyms, leisure centres, sports bodies and other activity providers, to major consumer brands and equipment manufacturers, our community collaborates across the private, public and third sectors.
ukactive facilitates high-impact partnerships, conceives and drives breakthrough campaigns, conducts critical research and lobbies the Government to recognise the power of the physical activity sector to address today’s biggest issues – including ‘levelling up’ health, reducing the burden on the NHS and social care, reducing crime, revitalising our high streets and communities, tackling loneliness and driving our physical and mental recovery from COVID-19.
For more information visit: www.ukactive.org.uk.
About UK Sport
UK Sport is the UK’s trusted high-performance experts, powering our greatest athletes, teams, sports and events to achieve positive success. Established in 1997, UK Sport has transformed the high-performance sporting system in the UK – through strategic leadership and investment of National Lottery and Government funds – winning more Olympic and Paralympic medals than ever before and is recognised as one of the top nations in the world for event hosting capabilities. UK Sport’s purpose is to lead high-performance sport to enable extraordinary moments that enrich lives and aims to work collaboratively with partners to deliver the greatest decade of extraordinary moments; reaching, inspiring and uniting the nation.
For more information visit: www.uksport.gov.uk
