The EuroHockey Forest has now funded the planting of over 8,700 trees with over 590 tonnes of CO2 avoided as part of the ongoing project.

Officially launched in August 2023, EuroHockey partnered with Ecologi, a company whose aim is to “inspire and empower business to accelerate global climate action”. 

Through Ecologi’s initiatives, over 80 million trees have been funded and 3 million tonnes of verified CO2e have been avoided.  

EuroHockey has played a part in that success. For the past three years, a portion of each transaction between EuroHockey and accredited partners has been donated and put to use to plant a tree in the EuroHockey Family Forest, helping make for a happier, greener planet. 

** To see more about the EuroHockey Forest, click here: https://ecologi.com/thehockeyforest

Each month, the organisation purchases trees to be planted to offset staff and executive board travel. Each participant that goes through the EuroHockey Institute programmes each year will have a tree planted too. 

During this time, the EuroHockey Forest has seen 8,769 trees and 41 projects funded, combining to see 430 tonnes of CO2 avoided since it was setup. 

The EuroHockey Forest ties in with the FIH’s Sustainability Strategy for Hockey launched last year, a collective plan for the global hockey community to focus our efforts and energy on projects that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 

It is part of big moves from our sport to meet these goals on a number of fronts. Recently, the FIH was honoured with an IOC Climate Action Award for their efforts in reducing water usage by an estimated 60 per cent since 2012 through the development of innovative “Dry Turf” technology.

This new technology has led to a 40 per cent reduction of water use between London 2012 and Tokyo 2020, and what is estimated to have been a further 20 per cent reduction for Paris 2024.

The ultimate aim is to replace the 2,000 or so water-based artificial hockey pitches globally with dry turfs, saving approximately 7.6 billion litres of water per year.

The project is part of the FIH’s strategy and comprehensive carbon reduction and mitigation plan, which includes the first carbon-zero artificial turf, inaugurated at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and the global “Give Back to Forest” tree-planting programme.

** To read more about the FIH’s IOC Climate Action award, click here: https://www.fih.hockey/news/fih-wins-ioc-climate-action-award-2024