April 5 – UEFA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) aimed to show how football can be a platform for change and in particular how football and hosting UEFA events can support cities to become more sustainable.
Michele Uva (pictured right), UEFA’s director of football social responsibility said: “Football events are an accelerator of change that can contribute to sustainable development in society and support host cities in reaching smart goals. UEFA looks forward to helping to build further bridges between football, cities and communities, guided by the belief that sustainability is at the core of the success of civil society and future generations.”
The MoU stretches beyond environmental sustainability to include social responsibility issues. At a side event titled ‘Football as accelerator of change’, UEFA’s chief of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, talked about her move from being a player to a career in football governance and inspiring more girls to play the game.
Olga Algayerova (pictured left), the UNECE’s executive secretary, said: “Unlike any other sport, football has the ability to unite, and we want to work together, with UEFA, to use the power of football in order to have a positive impact on important global issues, such as environmental sustainability and social responsibility… Football is played and followed by millions of people, especially youngsters, and our actions can have an enormous impact on society.”
UNECE represents 56 United Nations members – a larger number of nations than the EU – with the goal promoting pan-European economic integration.
UEFA has been building its sustainability programmes and launched its new Football Sustainability Strategy in December 2021. UEFA is creating its own sustainable event management system (SEMS), which will enable the measurement and benchmarking of event sustainability and is scheduled to be operational by 2023.
In December 2020 UEFA committed ‘full’ support to the European Green Deal which aims to make Europe the first climate neutral continent by 2050.
“Football must not simply intercept and follow sustainability and societal trends; it must anticipate and originate them,” Uva said.
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