Peers push for changes to secure a sustainable future for English football

As the Football Governance Bill began its report stage in the Lords last week, Peers put forward a final case for making changes to help set English football on course for a sustainable future.

P4P Peers supported an amendment - first tabled at committee stage  - which aimed to link the Bill to the UK’s Climate Change Act 2008, so that a focus on the long-term environmental sustainability of our most popular national game will form part of the emerging regulatory landscape for the sport.

Although Ministers acknowledged the “noble aims” behind the proposed reform and accepted there was a need for the sport to limit its impact on climate and the environment, ultimately, they disagreed that a statutory intervention was necessary to kickstart faster and further climate action among football clubs.

Peers supporting the proposals argued that leaving sustainability up to individual clubs has resulted in patchy and inconsistent uptake to date in actions  to address climate change and reduce the environmental impact of the sport.

While the government in the end did not accept the changes, the amendment provided an opportunity for Peers to hold an important debate on the role football can play in addressing climate change and how the long-term financial sustainability of clubs will rest on their ability to adapt and scale resilience to rising climate risks such as pitch-flooding or extreme heat affecting play.

Insurer Zurich UK for instance, has found that one in four English league clubs  are set to face partial or total stadium flooding annually by 2050​ with major knock-on implications to clubs’ fixture scheduling, ticketing revenue, insurance liabilities and overall financial health.  This will have a particular impact on smaller clubs which will be less resilient to cost increases or loss of ticketing revenue.

Peers highlighted that these findings show why both clubs, and the new independent football regulator to be created by the legislation, will have to plan for and respond to the growing impacts of climate change in the future, especially the least-resourced clubs who are likely to find managing climate threats the most costly.

The debates held throughout the Bill's passage provide fertile ground to build upon in the months ahead as the new regulator is established.

“Government policy already links financial stability to climate risk. The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee is required to consider climate risks in its financial stability assessments. Defra has also asked several major UK regulators, including Ofcom, to submit a report on how climate risks are affecting the sector. Football should be no different.”

Baroness Jones of Moulescoomb (GP)

“As noble Lords have noted, throughout the ages football has pushed and campaigned on many important issues, so it is right that the many things that clubs promote at home and abroad should include the environment, nature and broader sustainability.”

Lord Gascoigne (CON)

“Our national game has a vital role to play in support of the Government’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050, not least because there is a vital connection between the long-term financial sustainability of English football and its long-term environmental sustainability. We know that climate change impacts sport; we therefore need to equip clubs, especially those in the lower leagues, to mitigate the vagaries of extreme weather, whether in the form of droughts or torrential rain.”

The Bishop of Sheffield (CB)

You can read the full transcript of the Report Stage debate here