March 23 – UEFA is pushing the carbon-neutral message via a public awareness campaign – ‘Cleaner Air, Better Game’ – during the European Under-21 Championships in take place in Hungary and Slovenia that kicks off its group stages tomorrow.
“Football can play an important role in raising awareness of the real and present danger of air pollution,” said UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin. Air pollution annually claims more than 8 million lives worldwide.
UEFA is committed to making the championships a carbon-neutral event and is encouraging fans to make carbon savings via a dedicated Count Us In platform which encourages people to commit to small lifestyle changes to help improve air quality: walking or cycling more, moderating domestic heating or reducing food wastage. Each pledge will be added to a counter that converts commitments into real-life carbon savings.
The European Commission (EC) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), as well as a number of other international organisation advocating climate action and environmental action are supporting the campaign.
“Science suggests that poor air quality has a growing negative impact on footballers’ health, with even professional players struggling to perform. Studies show that higher levels of air pollution can slow the pace of matches by up to 15%,” said a UEFA press release.
“UEFA’s campaign with Count Us In comes at an exciting tipping point,” said Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). “Clean, regenerative energy systems are in our grasp, but to accelerate their adoption, we need everyone to step up to the challenge.”
A symposium on June 5 is planned to bring together key partners and stakeholders to assess the success of the campaign and to guide UEFA’s working group set up last year to develop a long-term strategy on climate action.
UEFA is committed to making Euro 2020 carbon neutral as well.
“By reaching such a vast audience, football can play an important role in raising awareness of the real and present danger of air pollution – both on and off the pitch,” said Ceferin.
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