Eliud Kipchoge, photo by NN Running team
The London Marathon announced their first enviromental report.
LONDON MARATHON EVENTS PUBLISHES FIRST ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT |
London Marathon Events (LME) has today published its first environmental report – Leaving the Right Impression – as it aims to lead the way in delivering sustainable mass participation sports events. LME organises world-leading mass participation events, including the Virgin Money London Marathon and Prudential RideLondon, and has led the world in showing the power of mass participation sport as a force for good. Now LME is committed to inspire and deliver innovation in mass participation event sustainability. This comprehensive report, the first of its kind in the organisation’s history, sets out the waste, emissions and products produced and used across all of LME’s events, and at their headquarters and warehouse in 2019. It details how much is recycled and reused, and assesses some of the ground-breaking initiatives it trialled at the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon, including:
The report also outlines the proposed targets for 2020 but these were set before the global Covid-19 pandemic. Currently the Virgin Money London Marathon, the Vitality London 10,000 and the Vitality Westminster Mile have been postponed and the 2020 events may not take place in the format they were intended at the start of the year. However, LME is committed to achieving the targets where it can and in the future. Hugh Brasher, Event Director London Marathon Events, said: “We want to protect our natural environment and ensure our events leave as small an environmental footprint as possible. “In the past year, we have invested in research, innovation and resources to minimise our environmental impact and have already launched initiatives that have the potential to change profoundly the delivery of mass participation events worldwide. “The work we have done means that we have a much clearer understanding of our impacts and can better plan how we reduce them in future. We know there is still much more to do but we are passionate about and fully committed to reducing our environmental impact and leading the way in delivering sustainable mass participation sports events.“ The report can be downloaded here. LME has also signed up to the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework as part of its ongoing commitment to be the global leader in sustainable mass participation sports events. This UN initiative aims at supporting and guiding sports in achieving global climate change goals. LME continues to collaborate with other major event organisers in the UK and internationally to share learning and collectively drive innovation and change in sustainability practices. |