Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help reduce the carbon emissions caused by large-scale sporting events in the UK.

Major sporting events bring a wide range of benefits to this country and the Government remains committed to maintaining its world-leading track record in this area. As part of the Government’s ‘net zero’ pledge, we work closely with domestic event organisers and international federations to ensure they are delivered as sustainably as possible.

We demonstrated this, for example, through our delivery of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Games had a bold ambition to be the most sustainable Games to date and set out a clear action plan which successfully reduced the environmental impact of the Games and has helped create a lasting legacy.

For future events, the Gold Framework guidance on UK-level support available when bidding for and staging major sporting events includes guidance for organisers to focus on the sustainability of their event, and any associated legacy or social impact programme. This document is being refreshed with the intention of publishing an update in the coming months.