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The path to environmental sustainability might ultimately require less international travel for competition 鈥� but that should be offset by greater international coordination, cooperation and collegiality from the global sport and recreation community.听

That was the message from Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth, who provided an international perspective at 爆料社区鈥檚 climate-focussed Connections 2023 conference.听

鈥淪port England, just like every sporting organisation, recognises the central fact now that climate change and sustainability is the major issue facing the sporting sector,鈥� Hollingsworth said.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a case of Sport England or England giving advice because we are all facing the same issues.听

鈥淲e have got shared issues and shared challenges. Let鈥檚 talk about them. We need to work together as much as possible.鈥�听

While Sport England鈥檚 remit does not extend to international sport, there was no doubt the future of international competition loomed large as an issue for a sector faced with the necessity of lowering the emissions caused by its activities.听

鈥淪port has got this major challenge that international competition requires international travel,鈥� said Hollingsworth. 鈥淚t is a great example where no one organisation and no one country has got the answer. So, we need to talk. We need to talk as competitive nations about how we can restructure competition.鈥�听

The future of sporting venues 鈥� and how people accessed them 鈥� was another key issue that must be addressed for sustainability to be achieved.听

In England, three out of five journeys undertaken by adults to either play or watch sport are made in the car. Of those, a quarter take less than 15 minutes.听

鈥淲e鈥檝e got a job to do to think about that in terms of the environmental sustainability agenda 鈥� not only through our own emissions, but thinking about what we might be responsible for through the places that people play and the audiences and crowds that come together,鈥� says Hollingsworth.听

鈥淸Sport England] has a lot more focus now on places and spaces and what we can do to reduce emissions.听

鈥淗ow can you build in the opportunity for people to get there on foot or on a bike? Active travel is going to be central to the solution here.听

鈥淭he important thing is we plan with a different lens, we don鈥檛 just plan for what we have always done.鈥澨�

While England had seen a significant rise in active transport due to creation of safer routes, the likes of Denmark and Holland were the international benchmark, Hollingsworth said.听

鈥淚f you go to Holland, it is not unusual to see more bikes parked than cars [at stadiums]. That鈥檚 because they鈥檝e built that into their infrastructure. It鈥檚 possible and easy to safely travel by bike to go to an event.鈥澨�

Environmental sustainability needed to be top of mind for all major sporting and recreational organisations, insisted Hollingsworth.听

鈥淚t is making sure it is on the agenda for boards and chief executives and really central to the organisations because that hasn鈥檛 always been the case.听听

鈥淲e need to be talking about this, we need to be advocating for this, we need to be showing up as organisations and as a sector that knows how imperative this is.听

鈥淎nd as an industry we need to think about the leadership role we can play in setting out a vision for the future and attracting the young people into our industry who might not otherwise want to come.鈥澨�

Questioning the environmental impact of the sector鈥檚 activities was a not an easy path to travel 鈥� however it had to be done, Hollingsworth said.听

鈥淚t will always be a difficult question to ask 鈥� but if we don鈥檛 address it, we will never actually make the changes that are needed.听

鈥淯ltimately, let鈥檚 learn from each other in terms of what works.鈥澨�

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