A NEW industry group has been set up to specifically explore and act upon the impact sports broadcasting has on the environment.
The Albert Sports Consortium brings together broadcasters and self-producing sport federations including BT Sport, Sky Sports, BBC, Channel 4, Premier League Productions, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) and Formula 1.
Albert is a collaborative BAFTA, indie and broadcaster-backed project that brings the screen
industries together to tackle their environmental impact and inspire sustainable living as the industry transitions to net zero carbon by 2050.
Aaron Matthews, albert’s Head of Industry Sustainability, commented: “The challenges faced by the television sports community are quite unique when compared to those of our core Consortium members, not least because sports producers are at the behest of the sporting calendar and have to broadcast events from all over the world.
“We wanted to create a separate group that could discuss the challenges they face and work on tailored solutions that can help them achieve net-zero carbon emissions.”
The Sports Consortium is working alongside SVG Europe, the industry association which supports sports content producers and distributors, and Sport Positive in collaboration with UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action Framework.
The consortium aims to align with the broader goals of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, to which AELTC, Formula 1 and Sky Sports are signatories together with some 135 sports teams, organisations and governing bodies around the world.
To aid sports broadcasters, the albert Calculator and Certification tools will be available for the sports industry to help them to measure their impact more effectively.
Modules will also be created to complement albert’s free training programme to help inspire and alert sports presenters and commentators to the huge potential they have to continue albert’s planet placement work, inspiring audiences to act for a sustainable future by incorporating climate focused conversations into their punditry and on screen work.
To further support the Sports Consortium, albert will also include sport specific events in its year-round free events programme to bring larger sections of the sports industry together to tackle specific issues and agree on solutions.
Bethan Evans, Broadcast Manager at the AELTC, a subsidiary of The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, added: “We believe that the AELTC and The Championships has a meaningful role to play in helping to protect and enhance the environment, today and for the future.
“It is encouraging to see such a strong and influential group of organisations coming together and we are really looking forward to working collectively to share best practice and find ways to raise the bar for the sports broadcasting industry through the formation of the albert Sports Consortium.”
