The British Olympic Association (BOA) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) for Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The BOA manages ‘Team GB‘, which selects the best athletes who will go on to compete in the 33 summer and seven winter Olympic sports at the greatest sporting competition in the world.

Project Description

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has ambitions to be a global leader in sustainability for elite sports and is developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy to achieve this. In Q2 2022, the BOA aspired to sign up to the UN Sports for Climate Action (S4CA) 2040 ‘Race to Zero’ pledge – this project provides assurance to the BOA that such a commitment can be achieved, and also a roadmap of how to get there.

In late 2021, the BOA commissioned a team from Perform Green working in collaboration with the University of Hull’s Energy and Environment Institute to develop a bespoke carbon emissions model to provide:

  1. A baseline carbon footprint on which to base carbon reduction strategies;
  2. Recommendations for carbon reduction strategies;
  3. A scenario planning tool to forecast the impact of carbon reduction activities on the BOA’s carbon emissions;
  4. Core information to support clear communications of the BOA sustainability strategy with stakeholders;
  5. Underpinning data to provide confidence for the BOA to sign up to the UN Sports for Climate Action (S4CA) carbon emissions reduction pledge (50% carbon reduction by 2030 and Net Zero by 2040).

This project provides the BOA with the means to become a leader in sustainability, both in the UK sporting sector as well as a globally-leading National Olympic Committee.

What did Perform Green Deliver?

Baselining and projecting a carbon footprint for the BOA entailed:

  • Agreeing on the GHG Protocol scope definitions and boundaries with the BOA team;
  • Gathering, cleaning and analysing data relating to the BOA carbon footprint;
  • Quantifying a carbon footprint baseline for 2016-2019;
  • Conducting an assessment of likely underlying carbon emissions for 2025-2028;
  • Identifying strategies for how the BOA could reduce carbon emissions year-on-year.

A bespoke carbon emissions projection tool was developed enabling the BOA to apply different carbon reduction scenarios/assumptions/intentions, to understand and quantify how varying these could impact their future carbon emissions. The most significant influences are:

  • Changes BOA make to their business operations to reduce their carbon footprint;
  • The location of the Olympic games;
  • A natural improvement over time in the carbon footprint of most industries;
  • The BOA’s ability to influence industry partners to secure a greener alternative to the market standard.

In Q2 2022 the British Olympic Association made the Sports for Climate Action pledge.  Perform Green are currently working with the BOA to create a process and a tool through which the BOA can track their progress towards that goal.  This will include performance tracking following the BOA’s operations over time, and a tool through which the BOA can proactively set carbon budgets for the coming years. 

Key Successes

Working with colleagues from the University of Hull, Perform Green:

  • Developed a carbon footprint baseline model to measure the BOA’s Carbon Footprint covering areas of operations, additional activities and competing in Olympic games;
  • Provided advice to BOA’s Board on carbon reduction strategy and created insight on achievable reduction targets;
  • Created a high-level Carbon reduction plan to improve the BOA’s Carbon Footprint;
  • Produced a report detailing the findings in the Carbon Footprint, key strategic areas for improvement and proposed next steps;
  • Created a bespoke flexible projection tool for scenario planning and testing
  • Provided ongoing engagement to support strategic planning for reducing environmental impact for the BOA