EuroHockey is delighted to publicly launch the EuroHockey Forest as one of the pillars in advancing our commitment to a more sustainable future for hockey.
The idea was inspired by the German women’s team’s initiative to build a hockey forest in South Africa to offset the carbon footprint created by the demands of the sport’s growing schedule.
For the past two years, EuroHockey has partnered with Ecologi, a company whose aim is to “inspire and empower business to accelerate global climate action”.
Through their initiatives, over 66.4 millions trees have been funded and 2.7 million tonnes of verified CO2e have been avoided.
EuroHockey has already played a part in that success. For the past two 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.
Each month, the organisation purchases trees to be planted to offset staff and executive board travel. From September, 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 nearly 6,000 trees and 37 projects funded, combining to see 350 tonnes of CO2 avoided since it was setup two years ago.
Former Irish international and Olympian – who works in the field of environment and sustainability – Dr Jonathan Bell, who was involved at the outset of discussions around the establishment of the Hockey Forest.
He said of the launch: “The Initiative is a reflection of EuroHockey’s commitment to do more for nature and climate which is great. While offsetting emissions through tree planting has a valuable role to play in delivering greater sustainability, it does not mean that other operations can carry on ‘business as usual’.
“It is vital that this fantastic initiative is matched equally by efforts to lower hockey’s carbon footprint by reducing emissions at source. There is an opportunity for hockey to play a leadership role in this space, where other sports are clearly lagging behind.”
The move ties in with last November’s launch at the FIH Congress of the Sustainability Strategy for Hockey, a collective plan for the global hockey community to focus our efforts and energy on projects that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The strategy covers all of the 3 major aspects of Sustainability according to the UN and IOC – People, Planet and Prosperity – that will build a healthy long term future for the sport.
** To visit the Hockey Forest and to find out more about how it works, go to: https://ecologi.com/thehockeyforest
