Participant travel dominates the carbon footprint of running events

This paper examines and compares the carbon footprints of 28 mass participation running events in North America, using a methodology developed by the Council for Responsible Sport as part of its Responsible Sport Standard for Events accreditation process. Sport events are increasingly expected to reduce their environmental impacts, yet comparisons across events remain difficult because studies often use different assessment methods and reporting standards. This study is unique because it applies a single reporting framework across multiple running events, allowing clearer comparisons of the key drivers of event-related emissions.

Results highlight variations between events in terms of their reporting of GHG emissions. The average event generated 3363 MtCO2e (0.23 MtCO2e per capita), with Scope 3 emissions accounting for 99.9% of the total emissions, and 98.9% being attributable to participant travel. The Council’s methodology can assist event organizers by providing valuable insights into the carbon footprint of their events and has potential value as an environmental management tool. The paper also discusses some of the challenges faced by event organizers in measuring the carbon footprint of their event, suggests strategies for reducing event emissions, and provides recommendations for strengthening the Council’s methodology and its contribution to global sustainability efforts.

CITE: McCullough, B. P., Collins, A., Roberts, J. & Villalobos, S. (2023). Sport events and emissions reporting: an analysis of the Council for Responsible Sport standard in running events. Sustainability, 15(19), 14375. DOI: 10.3390/su151914375