Measuring the carbon footprint of canoeing

The 2023 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships were staged by British Canoeing at the Lee Valley White Water Centre in Hertfordshire.

The governing body developed a detailed sustainability plan to understand the main drivers of the event’s environmental impact, provide a baseline measurement of its carbon footprint and the volume of waste it produced, and identify ways of improving impact measurement processes for future events.

The plan assessed the impact of the event’s energy use; production build; graphics; catering; waste; athlete accommodation; and the transport and travel of staff, volunteers, competitors and spectators.

1142.33 tCO2e

Total carbon footprint (117.25 kgCO2e per attendee)

967.91 tCO2e

Travel emissions (99.34 kgCO2e per attendee)

130.15 tCO2e

Energy emissions (13.36 kgCO2e per attendee)

35.29 tCO2e

Food and drink emissions (3.62 kgCO2e per attendee)

17.08 tonnes

Total waste produced on-site (1.75 kg per attendee)

33.2%

Waste recycled or re-used

British Canoeing’s environmental impact assessment found travel and energy use were responsible for more than 95% of the event’s total carbon footprint, at 84.7% and 11.4% respectively.

Its final impact report recommended changes that could be made to future editions that would reduce carbon footprint by up to 28%.