2024 in review: Driving social and environmental change through football
Friday, December 20, 2024
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Our efforts to unlock football's potential to create positive impact continued throughout the year. From the drive for inclusion and integrity at UEFA EURO 2024 to the launch of our groundbreaking carbon footprint calculator, we led the way in championing more sustainable practices across European football.
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UEFA EURO 2024: More than a game
EURO 2024 went beyond the exciting action on the pitch and atmosphere in the stadiums – it was a celebration of football's impact on society.
As detailed in our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report, a strategic investment of €30.6m enabled us to implement more than 120 sustainability actions and achieve 95% of our pre-tournament targets, including a 21% reduction in carbon emissions.
"UEFA EURO 2024 was more than just a sports event. It was a global movement, with full stadiums across Germany and billions of viewers joining us from all around the world. But our purpose extended beyond these impressive figures by placing sustainability, inclusion and integrity at the core of this tournament. This report demonstrates the true potential of football to inspire positive change and foster greater respect for both people and the environment. Undoubtedly, it will pave the way for a more thoughtful and responsible approach to future sporting events."
The tournament's legacy has been felt particularly strongly in Germany and the ten host cities, with a study by Nielsen Sports revealing an overall economic impact of €7.44bn.
Meanwhile, a dedicated online abuse programme monitored the social media accounts of 696 players, coaches, referees and national associations throughout the tournament. Collaborating with social media platforms, 91% of the 9,142 flagged posts were actioned – helping to create a safer digital environment for all participants.
The success of EURO 2024 has provided the framework for the ESG Strategy for UEFA Women's EURO 2025 in Switzerland, focused on reducing environmental impact, safeguarding the rights of all individuals and embracing transparent practices across all operations.
Read the 2023/24 Respect Report
The UEFA Respect Report provides a comprehensive annual overview of the strides we have taken towards a more sustainable future for our sport.
During 2023/24, we invested a total €12.1m in sustainability initiatives, with 79 targeted actions and more than 100 key performance indicators tracking our progress since 2021/22 as part of a transparent, data-driven approach to social and environmental sustainability.
Find out more and read the full report here.
Football for all
We are committed to ensuring everyone has the chance to play football and implemented several initiatives to help us towards this goal in 2024.
Football for Unity 2.0, a leading social inclusion project spearheaded by the UEFA Foundation for Children and sustainability partner Common Goal with co-funding from the European Commission, created a range of activities throughout EURO 2024 to bring young migrants and refugees closer to their host communities.
In October, we staged the third edition of the Unity EURO Cup at UEFA HQ in Nyon, with Latvia taking home the trophy. Held in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Unity EURO Cup brings together refugees and local players to promote social inclusion through football, with more than 200 players from 16 teams taking part in the latest tournament.
"Football plays a great role in my life. I fled South Sudan because there is a civil war and came to Northern Ireland. It was a long and stressful journey. In Northern Ireland, I started playing football and it was life changing. When I play football, I'm just happy. I met new people, I learnt a new language and different cultures. It's like a big family."
We also hosted the pilot edition of the UEFA Walking Football Cup, which forms part of our ambition to promote healthy and active lifestyles and widen the engagement of players across all age groups. A new walking football toolkit launched in September encourages clubs and associations to engage older people and encourage an active, sociable lifestyle.
We are always looking to improve accessibility in football, and an update to our UEFA Accessibility Guidelines was issued in September to help national associations, leagues and clubs work proactively to remove barriers that prevent people from being a part of the game.
Sustainability in action
Whether it's switching to a circular economy, reducing emissions or building sustainable infrastructure, we're always working towards a more sustainable future for football.
The launch of our carbon footprint calculator in March marked a pivotal step towards reducing carbon emissions within our sport. An innovative online tool, the calculator allows football organisations to comprehensively assess and understand their carbon emissions, empowering them to act on these and become active drivers of change.
"The UEFA Carbon Footprint Calculator embodies our ambition to showcase that football can be part of the solution in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions. By providing stakeholders with the tools and guidance, we are facilitating collective action towards a more sustainable future for our sport and the planet. Together, we can demonstrate to governments, investors, fans and commercial partners that football is committed to addressing climate change in a unified and strategic manner."
As an organisation, our own ongoing sustainability efforts were on full display at our four UEFA club competition finals in the spring, where we put 303 actions in place across environmental impact, social inclusivity and community engagement.
Saving lives with CPR
In November 2023, we partnered with the European Resuscitation Council to launch Get Trained, Save Lives, a campaign leveraging the power of football to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and teach life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) skills.
In its first year, the campaign delivered CPR training to 176,000 people from 171 countries, including players, coaches, fans, staff and volunteers.
Training has been delivered through an online course led by Dutch legend Ruud Gullit and several current stars, as well as in-person activations at EURO 2024 and club competition finals, with full CPR courses delivered to players and staff working within the game.
On the back of this successful first 12 months, the campaign will continue into 2025 with the support of professional clubs across Europe.
Spreading the joy of our game
Alongside numerous activations at our club competition finals, the UEFA Foundation for Children delivered a series of unforgettable memories throughout EURO 2024, using the power of football to bring joy to vulnerable children.
Highlights included the 10,000 Smiles project, a collaboration with the Kaizen Foundation, which delivered 10,000 free match tickets to disadvantaged children across the host cities, with 200 charitable organisations benefiting.
Robots supplied by Awabot and Hisense brought hospitalised children close to the action through the Faith in Young Champions initiative, taking them into exclusive areas and allowing them to meet their favourite players.
Innovating for impact
The men's Champions League final always guarantees a spectacle on the pitch, and this year the Champions Innovate programme ensured it can leave a positive legacy off it.
Bringing together commercial partners and innovative start-ups to solve challenges that align with the sustainability goals of the host city, the 2024 edition in London saw three companies – Pavegen, My Emissions and Pledgeball – find innovative green energy, sustainable food and fan engagement solutions.
Although My Emissions were named the winner and claimed the €45,000 prize, all three start-ups continued with their projects after the final, highlighting the success of the initiative.
Champions Innovate will continue in 2025 in Munich, with the theme of promoting healthier lifestyles.