Manchester Giants, the city’s only professional basketball team, have announced plans to go climate neutral by the start of the 2023/24 season.
The club will be partnering with Manchester-based firm Net Zero Event Management to reduce their carbon footprint.
Head Coach Vince Macaulay said: “We’re not pledging to cut our net emissions by 2050, or even Manchester’s own ambitious target of 2038, we’re going to act today”
“We think we’re the first top flight team in the world to make this commitment.”
The announcement comes as the city of Manchester continues to push for a greener future. Manchester’s council are already pushing to reduce emissions by 35%-45% by 2025.
The club intend to use renewable energy and ‘greener’ transport options to cut carbon emissions to a minimum, and then investing in carbon offsetting programmes to account for the unavoidable emissions the club will still generate.
Events manager Dominique Wilkins said: “We’re going to decarbonise every aspect of our operation.
“And we’re going to plant so many trees that we’ll end up with a ‘Giants Forest’! We all know we have to act to safeguard our future, and we’ve decided to act immediately.”