How climate-friendly is your sport?

20 sports ranked based on travel behaviour

September 28th - Author: Sönke Schadwinkel

Have you ever asked yourself this question from the headline? Admittedly, very few probably have.

In the press coverage, in public debates, even in research, when it comes to sport and climate action, often only the big sporting events like FIFA World Cup tend to be scrutinised and challenged. And with good reason, as they should be held to the highest standards and set an example for the industry as a whole. As a result of the development of sports infrastructure projects and increased travel by athletes and fans, mega-events are undoubtedly responsible for the majority of CO2 emissions in the field of sport.

Nevertheless, this question must also be asked of ourselves, and yourself -  and of the sports you love and play everyday. This question is not intended to make you, the sports enthusiast, feel guilty or bad about the sports you enjoy, but rather to challenge yourself to become aware of the impact of your behaviour and actions so that you may contribute to large-scale climate protection by making small changes to your daily lifestyle.

In this piece we will look at 20 sports that are making the biggest, and smallest, impact. Before we present the different sports in a descriptive gallery, ranked according to their environmental impact, it is necessary to reflect on a few brief aspects to understand the big picture of environmental compatibility of active sport participation.

What does climate-friendly actually imply?

For many years before Greta Thunberg's appearance on the world stage, climate change had been an issue about which people spoke out with concern and called for action. This global problem of escalating rise in average atmospheric temperature predominantly results from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by human activity.

The consequences are as numerous as they are disastrous: melting of the polar ice caps and permafrost, sea-level rise, drought zones and increasing weather extremes, not to mention others. All these aspects affect the living and survival situation of humans and animals alike to a devastating degree and have already led to many deaths and mass extinctions of species.

As the greenhouse effect has been identified as the leading cause of human-caused climate crisis, it can therefore be concluded that we should emit as little GHG as possible.

Put simply, climate-friendly means cutting down on CO2 emissions (as one of the most prominent greenhouse gases).

How to compare different types of sports based on their greenhouse gas emissions?

Admittedly, this question is actually too complex to answer with absolute precision. Nevertheless, it is a very exciting challenge, and a few tricks allow for cool insights based on comparative data.

When looking at one's own practised sport, the aspects that potentially produce CO2 emissions quickly become apparent: Equipment, sports facilities and the travel to the sporting activity.

It is theoretically possible but very sophisticated to measure the GHG emissions from producing and using sports equipment. There are numerous studies on the carbon footprint of sports infrastructure, but sports facilities are ideally not intended for only one type of sport and therefore not quite so exciting to look at in this context.

The most promising approach to assessing the impact of an individual athlete's behaviour appears to be looking at sport-related travel, which produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, which have negative effects on the environment and are by far the most significant factor contributing to climate change.

Prof. Dr. Pamela Wicker, a researcher from Germany, has done just that, ranking 20 different sports based on sport-related travel emissions by individuals engaging in sport activities. This article is based on her study and findings.

Show me the results!

Okay, feel free to take a look at the gallery and read through the accompanying texts. Please note that the study was conducted in Germany, and the results are not always applicable to other countries. Nevertheless, they are illustrative, and you can draw a lot from them.

20. Diving

2,84 t CO2 emissions per year

The last place with the highest CO2 emissions per year in this ranking is claimed by diving. Germany does not have any attractive diving spots, of which most are located in the Pacific, Indian Ocean or, somewhat closer, in the Red Sea.

Although only 1% of Germans frequently go diving in their spare time, the emissions alone are substantial given that Palau, one of the most beautiful diving destinations, can only be reached by a flight trip that emits 4 tonnes of CO2 - half the average emission of a typical German PER YEAR, and unfortunately 6 times higher than the amount that should be emitted annually if climate change were to be stopped.

Image: Henrik Hedegaard

19. Golf

2,20 t CO2 emissions per year

Also, golf comes along with a lot of travelling and therefore ranks second to last. As one of the largest sports tourism industries in the world, the novelty factor of discovering new golf courses and "collecting places" motivates people to travel.

Golf players are willing to spend 1/12th of their income on their sport and this willingness and purchasing power makes travel more likely. Playing golf on the neighbourhood golf course could be fairly affordable regarding the GHG emissions, but who really does that?

Image: Courtney Cook

18. Surfing

2,07 t CO2 emissions per year

It is obvious that the sport of surfing, which is mainly carried out through holiday-related travel, comes with relatively high CO2 emissions. While Germany simply does not offer favourable surfing conditions, decent surf spots can at least still be found on European shores. However, fewer of the 0.5% of Germans, who frequently go surfing in their leisure time, use public transport to travel to the surfing meccas of Portugal or France.

Some surf clubs educate their participants about environmental protection and marine conservation, which strengthens their awareness of the vulnerability of nature.

Image: Austin Neill

17. Figure/roller skating

1,24 t CO2 emissions per year

The fact that figure/roller skating scores so poorly is due to the high frequency of practice and the high distances to get on the ice due to the rather below-average infrastructure of the skating rinks. In addition, they consume a lot of energy when being cooled down for most of the year. Definitely, this sport is not so climate-friendly in Germany. Alternatively, taking it to the streets certainly takes away from the sport's appeal, but would again be a great way to improve one's carbon footprint.

Image: Matthew Fournier

16. Climbing/bouldering

1,16 t CO2 emissions per year

Climbing, on the one hand a travel-intensive holiday activity, but on the other hand also a fantastic sport to practice in urban climbing gyms, is enjoying an upward trend in Germany. Just as the number of active climbers has risen sharply so has the number of climbing gyms: from 180 facilities in 2000 to around 500 facilities by the end of 2018. High density allows climbers to reach their venues in a shorter distance.

However, the massive increase in the number of sport climbers in recent years has raised fears that conflicts in climbing areas with nature conservation and the expansion of the sport into still untouched areas could escalate significantly. A double-edged sword, after all.

Image: Patrick Hendry

15. Hiking/walking

0,90 t CO2 emissions per year

At first glance, hiking sounds very environmentally friendly, as it requires little or no equipment. However, hardly any hikers start from their front door, but rather travel further afield. 0.6% of Germans go walking/hiking every week and 94% say they hike because they want to experience nature.

Most of the great hiking spots, such as national parks, are not very well connected to public transport and therefore have to be reached by car. Thus, hiking tourism slowly damages its own habitat.

Image: Jon Flobrant

14. Field hockey

0,87 t CO2 emissions per year

In Germany, there are just about 400 hockey clubs that play in several league levels. Spread across the whole country, this handful of clubs results in long away journeys, especially in the higher leagues.

However, as hockey is played on artificial turf pitches, which are more often found in urban centres, it is easier to take public transport to training sessions. Otherwise, players carpool to tournaments, which in turn can significantly reduce the carbon footprint.

Image: John Torcasio

13. American football

0,84 t CO2 emissions per year

The situation of American football in Germany is very similar to that of field hockey in terms of its carbon footprint caused by travelling. The similarly low penetration by a low total number of American football players (70.000 - less than 0,1% of Germans play it) implies long journeys and much time spent on the road. But these giant squads of 30-50 players can save a lot of emissions by travelling by bus.

Image: John Torcasio

12. Triathlon

0,77 t CO2 emissions per year

Triathlon is a very time-intensive sport. Leisure athletes practice on average 5-10 h and more ambitious athletes about 15-20 h. Cycling and running can be done everywhere nearby, which keeps CO2 emissions low for practice time. For swimming, one usually finds a swimming pool in close proximity. While there are clubs that organise group trips for weekends, triathlon is generally an individual sport. Triathlon holidays, nevertheless, are a welcome alternative to the regular routine for ambitious athletes, and the appealing competitions abroad ultimately increase the overall CO2 emissions of the sport and place triathlon in the middle of this ranking.

Image: Thomas Dils

11. Skateboarding

0,72 t CO2 emissions per year

Very surprisingly, skateboarding ranks rather poorly on this ranking. Contrary to the general assumption that skateboarders simply roll their boards to the half pipe across the street, this study showed that the high CO2 footprint is due to relatively high travel frequency for day trips and vacations as well as normal practice.

Image: Isaiah Bekkers

10. Basketball

0,68 t CO2 emissions per year

Basketball, whose sport federation is placed 14th in Germany in terms of membership numbers, can also be found in the middle of this ranking. The training centres are usually located in the outskirts and are difficult to reach by public transport. For games, however, people still often take the car, especially if they play in the countryside. And in the higher leagues, long away trips are the norm.

Image: Mira Kireeva

9. Swimming

0,62 t CO2 emissions per year

Swimming is very common in Germany and clubs have seen a slight increase in membership again in recent years. The swimming pools required for this sport tend to be located in urban areas and sometimes several sports clubs have to share a pool complex. For city residents, the journey to and from can be managed in an environmentally friendly way, while swimmers from further away are usually bound to driving their cars. For tournaments that take place at the weekends, athletes can usually travel in teams, which reduces CO2 emissions.

Image: Richard R. Schunemann

8. Handball

0,41 t CO2 emissions per year

Let's now move on to the top 8, which are fairly similar in terms of their carbon footprint.

Handball can be seen as an environmentally friendly sport because it can usually be played in sport facilities close to home. In contrast to the other team sports, however, handball has a slightly higher CO2 footprint at league matches, which can be explained by a more frequent use of automobiles and longer distances to travel to matches.

Image: Pixabay

7. Volleball (indoor)

0,40 t CO2 emissions per year

Volleyball differs only marginally from handball, which was placed just behind it, and which, according to the study, consumes more CO2 on the way to tournaments, but scores slightly better in all other aspects. Identical arguments apply to volleyball: as a team sport there is more carpooling, but as a medium-popular sport, longer away trips.

Image: Pixabay

6. Table tennis

0,39 t CO2 emissions per year

Table tennis also differs only slightly from handball and volleyball. This sport, which is either played alone or in teams, is not as developed in Germany and clubs are a little further apart.

Image: Ilya Pavlov

5. Track and field

0,36 t CO2 emissions per year

Making general statements about athletics is difficult since it is partly an individual sport, partly a team sport, with differing sub-disciplines. According to the study, most of the CO2 emissions are caused by the competitions, such as the regional and provincial championships, which take place only once or twice a year. Sports facilities for athletics are mainly found in municipalities, which allows frequent travel to practice via public transport.

Image: Markus Spiske

4. Football (soccer)

0,34 t CO2 emissions per year

Just missing a medal place in this ranking comes the most practiced sport in Germany: football. Every 12th person in Germany is registered in a football club and this high penetration benefits the infrastructure. 50,000 football pitches keep travel times to a minimum, and away trips are only short in the lower leagues and are often solved by carpooling.

Image: Jeffrey F. Lin

3. Headis

0,27 t CO2 emissions per year

I admit, I had to google this sport too. And I even think that not even the image was helpful for all readers to know what this sport is about - practically table tennis played with a football and the head as a bat. It was invented by German students at the beginning of the millennium and has since been played mainly in university sports.

While students usually don't have a car anyway and the tournaments are probably also more likely to be held internally at the university, this sport thus reads with a very good carbon footprint - and in this way even beats its big brother football.

Credit: Karl Bachmann

2. Tennis

0,24 t CO2 emissions per year

With around 1.4 million members, Germany has the largest tennis federation in the world. For training, players opt for a pitch or club close to home. In competition, carpooling to away matches improves the CO2 footprint, where often the whole club team may be required to travel to the match.

Like the other racket sports, only a few tennis players tie their sport to a holiday. This makes this sport, which requires little space as well as other aspects (sports infrastructure, materials), a true climate champion, even if it was only awarded second place.

Image: Julian Schiemann

1. Fitness (gym)

0,23 t CO2 emissions per year

The most climate-friendly sport according to the study is: workout in the gym! And it makes so much sense - because the most important factor in the choice of fitness centre is, of course, the distance to your own home. And in the best scenario, you use the short commute to warm up with a run. Of course, the data benefits from the fact that there are no competitions (or only very few of them). And even on holidays, you may even have a gym in your hotel.

Image: Danielle Cerullo

What can I take away from this?

Fortunately, not everyone in the world is a motor racer or a sports pilot. The fact that you have read this article to this point shows your interest, and environmentally conscious people are more likely to behave in an environmentally friendly way.

No matter what sport you do, with a little thought you can make travel to practice, competitions, training camps, matches, and sports tourism more environmentally friendly. For example, use climate-friendly transportation, organize carpools and avoid flying. And if all that fails, another option to consider for your next leisurely sports activity would be to  start looking for sports that are practiced more locally in your region, and ideally, closer to home.

As a sports manager, consider travel distances and transportation means for participants when organising events and competitions to enable environmentally friendly travel.

And as a policymaker, initiatives should be taken to enable environmentally-friendly behaviour. In the minds of individuals, there is often a gap between environmental values and measures (environmental value-action gap). As sport-related travel is perceived as a high-cost situation, measures towards economic incentives should be deemed appropriate.

Details on the study

Pamela Wicker published the study in 2019 entitled "The carbon footprint of active sport participants" in the journal Sport Management Review, 22:4. She surveyed the sport-related travel behaviour of 6537 adult active sportspeople in Germany who played a total of 20 different sports. She found that participants in nature sports had the highest emission levels. Existing environmental awareness among athletes significantly reduced the carbon footprint for individual sports, but not for team/club and nature sports.