Richmond recently hosted a Sustainability Industry Round Table.

In 2022, Richmond Football Club became the first AFL club to launch an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP).

The three-year plan outlined the initial steps as to how the Club would deliver on its United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action Initiative commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040.

This included a commitment from the Club to decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2024 and 50% by 2030 while also, importantly, using the Richmond brand and following to show climate leadership across all industries.

Last week the Club hosted a Let’s Kick Climate Goals event at the Maurice Rioli Room that was delivered in partnership with the City of Yarra. Guest speakers for the event included Richmond AFLW player and Sustainability Ambassador Poppy Kelly.

Richmond was also part of a recent Sustainability: Industry Round Table event that featured the Head of Sustainability at FIFA Women’s World Cup, Sheila Nguyen, among many other key leaders in the environmental sustainability space.

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Sustainability Industry Round Table

Richmond hosted its inaugural Sustainability Industry Round Table event, to ignite conversation and broker action within the sustainability space and the AFL industry.

The Club’s Social Impact & Sustainability Manager, Rita Nehme, was also a speaker at the recent Sports Environment Alliance (SEA) Summit held at the MCG, sharing the Club’s climate journey and learnings with key industry attendees.

SEA is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to protect and enhance the natural environment of Australasia by promoting sustainability, sustainable development, regeneration, and use of resources across the sports industry. The Club is proud to be a member of the Alliance.

At an operational level, Richmond has made significant changes to Club events.

This includes moving all raffles to digital, reusable menus, removing disposable ticket envelopes, removing paper guest lists, and steering away from individual giveaways.

The Club has also reduced its portable water use by 50% by utilising grey water from the MCG. Members of the Tiger Army have also dug deep, purchasing 400 Tiger Conservation Memberships.

Importantly, proceeds from these memberships go directly towards employing staff to patrol the Malaysian jungle to disrupt poachers’ activity, working alongside WWF Malaysia to help save wild tigers from extinction

Richmond will continue to provide updates on its progress toward reaching net zero in the coming months and years. To view the 2022-2024 ESAP, click here.