The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has released a far-reaching new sustainability plan and confirmed it will become cricket’s first national governing body to sign up to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.
The Framework invites sports bodies to adopt a range of targets, including halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 at the latest and reaching net zero emissions by 2040, as well as committing to five principles to help drive decarbonisation efforts, including stronger climate communication and education programmes and embedding sustainability into decision-making.
In signing up to the UN programme, the ECB joins county clubs Gloucestershire and Surrey, Melbourne Cricket Club, the Lawn Tennis Association, and more than 200 sporting and broadcasting organisations worldwide.
Dr Russell Seymour, chair of the British Association for Sustainable Sport, said membership of the UN Sports for Climate Framework underscores the ECB’s intent to join other sustainability leaders in the world of sport.
“It has to be someone senior, usually the chief executive, that signs the commitment and the data must be publicly reported before submission, so it gives leadership and transparency,” he said. “So it’s a great step forward, but it is now what they do with it that will count.”
Alongside the new commitment, the ECB yesterday published an updated Environmental Sustainability Plan for Cricket recognising the threat that climate change poses to the game and committing the body to both reducing its environmental impacts and working with the professional and recreational game to promote more sustainable practices.
Specifically, the document commits the ECB to creating and implementing an emissions reduction plan spanning cricket operations, business operations, air travel, and event delivery by the end of 2024 with a view to halving emissions by 2030 and hitting net zero by 2040. It also committed to providing annual progress reports from 2025.
Moreover, it has pledged to offset emissions that can not be reduced, continue to work with venues on climate adaptation projects, develop guidance and training to improve drought resilience at grounds and clubhouses, and continue to promote sustainable travel across the game.
Further pledges include creating a sustainable procurement plan, eliminating waste to landfill, and developing a guide for sustainability at recreational club level.
Writing in the plan’s foreword, ECB chief executive Richard Gould said he hoped the organisation could do more to reduce its impact and work to inspire change for the better.
“We also acknowledge that what we do as an organisation, whether that is travelling to play cricket in India, hosting Ashes Test Matches or running the Hundred, all has an impact on our climate and our environment,” he added.
Kathy Gibbs, sustainability manager at the ECB, said ensuring flooding, drought, pollution, and extreme heat does not stop play so that future generations can enjoy cricket was of paramount importance.
“Cricket is more susceptible to climate change than most other sports and, as we launch our new Environmental Sustainability Plan for Cricket, the most important thing we can do as a governing body is to support everyone within the game so that they feel able to achieve their sustainability ambitions,” she said. “That is, in essence, the core principle of the Environmental Sustainability Plan. Every action counts”
Gibbs said the ECB was making “a running start” off the back of £10m investment in sustainability measures over the last two decades, including projects at Lord’s, The Kia Oval and Edgbaston, and a £4m County Grants Fund to help county teams deploy a range of measures such as energy saving improvements, water management, electric mowers or rollers, and enhanced drought and flood resistance.
“Our plan showcases many other examples of the good work happening across the game and within the ECB, and it is important to celebrate those,” she added. “We want to build on that to supercharge the positive impact in this space.
“It is our role to support all parts of the game – and every part of the game has differing resource and ability to deliver sustainability. As an example, we all know that recreational cricket relies heavily on volunteers and already many of them are working above 100 per cent.”
The release of the ECB’s plan follows its publication of extreme heat regulations after record breaking temperatures during the 2022 summer.
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