Bristol City most sustainable team in the Championship
The Robins were ranked second out of all 72 clubs in the English Football League according to research by Sport Positive
Last updated 9th Jun 2024
Bristol City is the second most sustainable football club in the EFL.
It's the first ever league table of its kind - looking at just how much each team is doing in helping to mitigate their impact on the climate.
The table, published by Sport Positive Leagues, assesses clubs on a wide range of factors, including their use of clean energy, how they manage waste, and even where uneaten food heads to.
All of this gives clubs a score out of a possible 24 - and the Robins were just pipped at the post by League One's Forest Green Rovers.
Talking to us, Head of Change and Sustainability Peter Smith said: "Forest Green are real trailblazers - not just in the UK but around the world on all things to do with sustainability.
"They are ahead of us - I'd say Forest Green Rovers are about 10 years ahead of where we're at, but there's nothing that they're doing that I don't think us and other clubs can't reach.
"Because of where they're at on this journey, Forest Green are also very helpful at what they do - especially with them being not too far up the road, it's a very helpful partnership to have."
Although Forest Green Rovers made the first steps on their sustainability journey all that time ago, it was only back in August 2022 that Bristol City and Ashton Gate launched their sustainability strategy - codenamed 'Project Whitebeam'.
The project involves all of the squads who play at Ashton Gate, including the Bristol Bears, Bristol Flyers and Bristol Sport - as well as the Robins themselves.
Just three months after launching the initiative, City had already won the Football Supporters' Association Climate Action Award.
The club is a signatory to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and one of only four EFL Clubs who also have Race to Zero targets of cutting Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 50% by 2030 and being net zero by 2040.
When they signed up to these targets, the club say they didn't even know the benchmark levels they were starting at.
Peter said: "We make no bones about it - we have a very long way to go, and despite this new league table, we can't just rest on our laurels.
"Society has a long way to go - and so do individuals too.
"To suggest we've done it all now would be wrong of us to suggest. However, when we talk about this project, we split it into three objectives: recognising our impact; measuring our impact; and mitigating our impact on our environment. And we're focussing on all three of these things at the same time.
"This is the start of a long journey for us, but we're in it for the long-haul. We simply can't afford not to start it now."
Despite Bristol City's efforts, it's hoped the Sport Positive league table will not just keep the momentum going for the clubs flying high at the top, but also give those further down the bottom the motivation to get started on their own methods of climate action.
Peter added: "I think the reality is - sometimes it's a challenge because of monetary constraints, sometimes it's a challenge of time, manpower and resources... but that's not unique to any particular club.
"We all have those challenges, but what we've learnt in the first few months of Project Whitebeam is that not only is the process not as hard and scary as it first seems, but you can make huge changes in such a small period of time.
"These changes also have a lot of benefits to us as an organisation as well - so I'd encourage other clubs to throw themselves into this!"
Club Director, Gavin Marshall said: “We’re pleased to be among the clubs leading change across football. We recognise that we have an impact and are working hard to mitigate that across a number of key areas.
"Sport clearly has a long way to go but it feels like clubs are finally waking up to the challenge."
Claire Poole, Founder and CEO of Sport Positive, said: “Across all leagues there are incredible examples of leadership from many EFL clubs.
"We congratulate Bristol City FC for their efforts so far towards a sustainable future and know they acknowledge there is still a long way to go. Our hope through the publication of the Sport Positive Leagues EFL 2022 Matrix is that we can raise awareness, to empower increased action and ambition in this area.
"Football provides such an incredible platform to drive collection action in tackling the climate crisis, and as the recent IPCC report highlighted, we are running out of time.”
You can check out the full table and more about the people who conducted the survey here.