August 2026 at ISG: Responsible Sport Is About More Than Commitments
August at the Institute for Sport Governance was marked by responsibility, sustainability, and developments that are increasingly shaping the way modern sport operates. From Formula 1 and Women’s EURO 2025 to Polish football clubs and the development of female youth sport coaches, we looked at how good governance translates into concrete decisions and actions.
A common thread running through many of August’s topics was the shift from commitments to measurable results. Sports organisations are increasingly expected not only to set environmental and social goals, but also to demonstrate who is responsible for delivering them, how progress is monitored, and what outcomes are being achieved.
ESG Is Becoming Increasingly Embedded in Sport Governance
One important example was the German Football Association (DFB), which presented an approach based on four pillars in its ESG Factsheet 2025: health, community, governance, and environment. In 2025, the federation also conducted a double materiality assessment for the first time, identifying sustainability-related impacts, risks, and opportunities.
Another example came from Women’s EURO 2025. The implementation of the tournament’s ESG strategy was assessed against 46 criteria, while each stadium had its own sustainability manager. A further 101 volunteers were involved in ESG-related activities. This demonstrates that a strategy only begins to make a real difference when it is supported by clear structures, accountability, and mechanisms for verifying results.
The event’s partners also played an important role, supporting areas such as fan mobility, waste management, recycling, and the digital safety of players. Sponsorship can therefore become not only a marketing tool, but also an important part of ESG strategy implementation.
Sport Faces Growing Environmental Challenges
In August, we also focused extensively on the environmental impact of sport. According to the data we highlighted, the global sports sector is responsible for approximately 400–450 million tonnes of CO₂e emissions annually. This footprint is generated not only by events themselves, but also by travel, infrastructure operations, the production of sports equipment and apparel, and complex supply chains.
At the same time, there are examples showing how organisations are working to reduce their impact. Formula 1 reported a 35% reduction in its carbon footprint compared with 2018. Emissions associated with factories and facilities fell by 64%, while logistics emissions decreased by 29%. This is particularly noteworthy given the continued growth of the sport, which attracted almost 3.7 million fans to circuits during the first part of the 2026 season.
Waste also remains a growing challenge. In the UK alone, around 100,000 tonnes of sporting goods end up in landfill every year. This is why circular economy solutions, including repair, reuse, recycling, and extending the lifespan of equipment, could become one of the key directions for the sector’s transformation.
Climate Change Is Transforming the Way Sport Is Organised
August’s topics also demonstrated that the climate discussion is no longer limited to reducing emissions. Adapting sport to changing conditions is becoming increasingly important.
Rising temperatures can affect athlete safety, infrastructure, competition schedules, and even entire sporting calendars. According to research cited by World Athletics, 70% of athletes believe that climate change and high temperatures are already affecting their training and competition.
Other resources, including water, are becoming increasingly important as well. Water scarcity can affect both the maintenance of sports facilities and the production of equipment and apparel. Managing climate risks and natural resources is therefore increasingly becoming a governance issue rather than solely an environmental one.
The Responsibility of Polish Football Clubs Beyond the Pitch
With the start of the new PKO BP Ekstraklasa season, we also returned to the findings of our “Analysis of the Responsibility of PKO BP Ekstraklasa Clubs for the 2024/2025 Season.”
The clubs achieved an average score of 39%, the highest result in the history of the study. The greatest progress was recorded in the social dimension, where the average increased from 36% to 49%, and in governance, where it rose from 33% to 45%. Widzew Łódź ranked first for the third consecutive season, achieving a score of 79%.
At the same time, the report identifies areas where further progress is needed. The environmental dimension remains the least developed area of responsibility, while the financial analysis highlights challenges related to building stable operating models for clubs. It is a reminder that the strength of a sports organisation should be assessed not only by its position in the league table, but also by the quality of its governance and its long-term resilience.
FEMCoach: Developing Female Coaches for Lasting Impact
In August, the FEMCoach project was also an important part of our communication. We highlighted the role of female youth sport coaches and the importance of competencies that go beyond the technical development of athletes.
FEMCoach combines online education, international knowledge exchange, and the development of a community of practitioners. At the same time, the project has been designed so that its results can continue to be used after the funding period ends, including through a free MOOC and an educational model that can be adopted by other organisations and universities.
This is particularly important as the project approaches its final stage and the FEMCoach International Seminar in September.
Sport as Part of Broader Change
August also showed that the role of sport increasingly extends beyond stadiums and sports halls. In a new political declaration adopted during the UN High-level Political Forum, sport was recognised as a tool that can support more inclusive, healthy, and sustainable urban development.
The broader role of sport was also explored during the International Congress “Sport in Diplomacy and Business: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives” in Toruń, where ISG was a partner. Discussions on sports diplomacy, soft power, business, law, and new technologies demonstrated how deeply modern sport is interconnected with other areas of social and economic life.
Summary
Above all, August 2026 demonstrated that responsibility in sport is becoming increasingly systemic. It encompasses how organisations are governed, how environmental impact is measured, how the sector responds to climate change, how financial stability is built, how people are developed, and how events are designed to create lasting value.
The future of sport will therefore depend not only on how it develops on the field of play, but also on how responsibly it manages its impact beyond it.
