Herning2022 compensates the event’s carbon emissions with First Climate
From August 6 to 14, fans and professional equestrians are meeting for the ECCO FEI World Championships Herning – Denmark 2022. As Herning2022’s official partner, First Climate compensates the event's carbon footprint. At the Solution Square, First Climate also offers visitors the opportunity to compensate for their individual travel emissions on site with the Footprint app.
The ECCO FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark, will be held in three stadiums. Around 550 competitors from 49 countries will compete in four disciplines: Dressage, Show Jumping, Vaulting and Para Dressage. Unsurprisingly, a sporting event of this size tends to generate a high number of emissions. But the Herning2022 organizers aimed to set a new benchmark for sustainability at sporting events and took multiple measures to reduce the event’s environmental impact.
As the biggest contributor to carbon emissions, the amount of rubber mats used underneath arena footing was reduced and the remaining will be permanently used in riding facilities. The judge’s huts, the ribbons and sashes for winners are made locally of recycled materials. The lush plants and flowers adorning the walls and podiums will either be replanted or sent to Danish nursing homes. Podiums are made of FSC-certified material and are built to last to be re-used for future events. Event toilets and showers are designed to use a minimal amount of water to reduce water waste. Also, in corporation with the Municipality of Herning and Growing Trees Network Foundation, the World Championship Forest has been planted close to the venue. The area covered is equivalent to 30 football fields.
Despite these measures, not all of the event’s emissions could be entirely avoided. Herning2022 took its commitment to the event’s sustainability a step further and invited all the participating national equestrian federations to voluntarily support the compensation of the event-related residual emissions. To achieve this, Herning2022 partnered with First Climate to support the certified Sah Wind Power Project in Northwestern Turkey. The project is located in the Balikesir and Bursa Turkish provinces, expands renewable energy in Turkey and creates employment opportunities for people in the project region.
“We worked extensively to reduce the emissions from the event through our various initiatives, but we were still left with residual emissions. To compensate for this, we made the conscious decision to work with First Climate as our compensation partner. Supporting the wind power project in Turkey ensures that the ECCO FEI World Championship can be held without negatively impacting the climate,” says Jens Trabjerg, CEO Sports at Herning2022.
First Climate at the Solution Square
First Climate’s involvement in the event doesn’t stop at the event’s carbon compensation. Expert representatives of First Climate are at a booth in Solution Square, an exhibition area on the event site dedicated to sustainability. At the First Climate booth, guests can use the Footprint app to calculate and compensate for their individual travel emissions. The app makes it easy to record the emissions associated with their travel to and from the event and offers users the opportunity to offset them immediately by financially supporting a forest conservation project in Pará, Brazil. The project protects 150,000 hectares of Amazon rainforest from illegal logging. Visitors can enjoy the event, learn about their personal carbon footprint, and take climate action at the same time.
Mike Hatert, COO of First Climate Markets AG, is on site with other First Climate experts. He enthusiastically reports, “It’s exciting to support a sporting event of this size, especially because Herning2022 has already shown an impressive commitment to climate protection in the run-up to the event with various ambitious sustainability initiatives. It’s great to see that an active contribution is being made to making sporting events as climate friendly as possible. We hope that our individual carbon compensation services with the Footprint app will raise climate protection awareness for as many visitors as possible during the course of the event.”
For more information on Herning2022's commitment to sustainability, click here.
