Top-flight English football clubs have been praised as more active than ever on sustainability measures, but critics say there remains a “lack of moral leadership” from the Premier League itself.
A new report from Sport Positive Leagues has moved away from previous ‘league tables’ largely because of the progress made on clubs’ environmental impact.
Founder Claire Poole said that, five years since it began ranking clubs on areas like the matchday experience and green stadium facilities, “things had changed”.
Poole said: “Clubs are now much more frequently engaging on this topic – 16 Premier League clubs now have a sustainability page on their website; six clubs have net zero carbon targets; and first-team players more regularly appear in club videos recycling, driving electric vehicles and eating plant-based food.
“The new report enables clubs, fans, journalists and anyone in the sports ecosystem to easily find information relating to top-flight English football clubs and, while there is much work still to do, the progress from clubs over the past five years since Sport Positive Leagues started collating this information in 2019 has markedly improved.”
Nottingham Forest were bottom of the 2023 table and have since signed up to the United Nations framework, publishing emissions and putting in place a clubwide strategy.
