The DP World Tour has launched a tool that allows spectators to calculate and counterbalance their carbon footprint while travelling to and from tournaments.
Created in collaboration with Q Green TeC, the tool will enable travelling fans to play their part in tackling climate change, with planned awards for those who reduce their carbon footprint the most.
David Grundlingh, CEO of AQ Green TeC, commented: “It has been our long-held belief that sport has immense influence and thereby opportunity to drive positive change and deliver #SharedResponsibility and #CollectiveAction for meaningful climate action.
“We are therefore extremely excited to be making such a significant move into sport with the team at the European Tour group and look forward to showing the rest of the live-event industry how to take their biggest environmental challenge, namely fan-travel and turn this into an opportunity for climate change mitigation.”
Ticket holders at 12 tournaments in 2024 will receive an email link to a new portal, where they can input their travel details such as flights, accommodation, and ground transportation. They can then purchase verified carbon credits to offset their calculated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The carbon credits available in the tool are from Gold Standard accredited projects that align with various United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To promote the tool, QR codes will be placed throughout tournament sites and on DP World Tour digital platforms.
As mentioned above, to help drive engagement with the new tool, the DP World Tour will be running a series of competitions for fans who choose to offset their travel, with “once in a lifetime” prizes on offer.
Maria Grandinetti-Milton, Head of Sustainability at the European Tour group, said: “There will always be unavoidable emissions when staging golf tournaments that attract thousands of fans over multiple days.
“We have a responsibility to start the dialogue with our fans and to help connect the impact of actions onsite to the future of our sport, supporting climate mitigation projects where we can all work together to invest back into the planet.
“Ultimately, we want to make it easier for fans to make cleaner travel choices in the first place, whether that’s using public transport, carpooling or cycling.”
Several initiatives are already in place to promote greener transportation at events. These include free shuttle services from local train stations, free bike parking, carpooling encouragement and priority parking for electric vehicles.
Sustainability initiatives have become a focus for organisations across the sporting world. Recently, the F1 published its first Impact Report as it is racing to hit net zero emissions by 2030.
Additionally, the MLB announced its first official sustainability partner, agreeing a deal with leading environmental services provider WM.
Grandinetti-Milton added: “At present, 20.5% of our spectator’s travel using lower carbon methods, and we want to increase this percentage.
“This new tool will help raise awareness of this issue amongst our fan base and provide a simple means of understanding the impact different modes of transport have on our climate. If we are going to achieve net zero by 2040, then everyone needs to pull together and play their part.”
