In an effort to become a climate leader within the sporting industry, Richmond engaged South Pole to help the club progress towards net zero.
Richmond Football Club was established in 1885 and has been an active competitor and member of the Australian Football League (AFL) for over 130 years. The Club has worked to distinguish itself as a leading voice for social impact, reconciliation, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability throughout Australian sport. The club's dedication to sustainability is shown through their commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sports for Climate Action (S4CA) and Race to Zero Initiative. As the only club within the AFL, as well as one of only 6 other signatories across Australia, Richmond is directing the league, and the country, towards climate action.
In an effort to become a climate leader within the sporting industry, Richmond has ensured resource allocation into initiatives to help lower the club's environmental impact. The club has cut its water consumption by 50% by utilising grey water from their neighbor, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), installed solar panels to help power the club with renewable energy, and has eliminated the use of plastic straws, cups, bags, and water coolers.
To complement these initiatives, Richmond engaged South Pole to calculate the club's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and develop a customised roadmap to achieve net zero emissions.
In line with our environmental sustainability commitments, we are embedding sustainability and climate action throughout the different Richmond business areas to actively reduce our carbon footprint while simultaneously leveraging our platform to raise awareness, contribute to education, and foster behavioral change within our community. By working with South Pole, we gained a comprehensive understanding and crucial insights into our carbon footprint. We also developed an emission reduction roadmap, which will facilitate the implementation of high-impact initiatives and provide us with a pathway to achieving our UNFCCC targets of 50% emission reduction by 2030 and net-zero by 2040.
Rita Nehme, Head of Sustainability, Richmond Football Club
As a signatory of the UNFCCC S4CA and Race to Zero Initiative, Richmond is required to set emission reduction targets under their frameworks.The S4CA initiative requires that sports organisations set a near term (NT) emissions reduction target to decrease emissions by 50% by 2030 and a long term (LT) target to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. To understand whether Richmond is in line to meet these emission reduction requirements, South Pole experts calculated the GHG emissions for Richmond's operations in calendar year (CY) 2022. Using this data, our experts could then forecast Richmond's emission reduction over the next 20 years and make any necessary recommendations to meet their targets.
For CY 2022, Richmond's total GHG emissions were 15,933 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), of which 46% came from the club's scope 3 emissions. This GHG accounting exercise provided a robust basis for understanding Richmond's emission hotspots at the group-level. Looking closely into the data, purchased electricity and purchased goods and services contributed the most to Richmond's emissions footprint, highlighting a clear direction for Richmond to focus decarbonisation efforts.
Having this base year emission data then allowed South Pole experts to analyse Richmond's current and future progress towards their net zero targets. This analysis concluded that Richmond is partly on track to meet their net zero targets, however work is still needed in some areas.
These insights provide Richmond with clarity over their ongoing and planned interventions, demonstrating where they can take further action to achieve their net zero goals. South Pole experts were able to support Richmond by indicating which areas of their emissions footprint should be focused on and possible new interventions which can assist Richmond to meet their targets
We understand the decisions we make today relating to climate will impact our future staff, players, and supporters. It is critical that we understand our footprint, and build awareness across the Richmond business and broader football industry, so that we all have a greater capacity to make better decisions relating to the health of our environment.
Michael Lacy, Strategic Projects Manager, Aligned Leisure (a Richmond Football Club company)
