OL’s commitment to eco-responsibility rewarded by the Fair Play for Planet label

OL’s commitment to eco-responsibility rewarded by the Fair Play for Planet label

After a two-month audit, Olympique Lyonnais has just received the FPFP** (Fair Play For Planet) certified “Committed” label. This distinction rewards the eco-responsible actions carried by the institution for several years.

At the beginning of 2021, Olympique Lyonnais began the process of obtaining the Fair Play For Planet label, a label that recognises sports clubs and events with a real environmental commitment.

Olympique Lyonnais, the first professional football club to apply for the label, underwent an audit that lasted two months. Using 300 questions, carried out in cooperation with ADEME, the Fair Play For Planet teams had to determine a level of labeling ranging from 1 to 3 stars, or even refuse to grant this distinction.

At the end of this meticulous work, Fair Play For Planet granted Olympique Lyonnais the FPFP** label certified “Committed”. In its report, Fair Play For Planet indicated that it was “sensitive to the sustainable development approach of Olympique Lyonnais, which is fully integrated into all levels of the club, including employees, local authorities and partners”.

“Olympique Lyonnais has created an educational garden around its stadium in the east of Lyon, with an apiary, a composting site and an educational trail on environmental issues. The club is careful not to use any phytosanitary products for the maintenance of the Groupama Stadium’s lawn. And it has developed a bicycle plan, via OL Vallée, with bicycle paths around the stadium and a covered bicycle park, open seven days a week, with 500 spaces,” highlighted Fair Play For Planet.

Several areas of progress have been identified and Olympique Lyonnais is committed to working on them: optimising sorting of spectator waste; offering sustainable food in the stadium; on-site production of the renewable energy consumed by the club (installation of photovoltaic solutions by 2022 at OL Vallée); and the objective of 90% of travel (fans and employees) using active and shared mobility transport within three to four years. In addition, a mobility survey will be conducted for the 2021-2022 season.

“Olympique Lyonnais deserves the FPFP label, which rewards all the work they have already accomplished,” says Julien Pierre, founder of Fair Play For Planet. “We were impressed by their commitment and the measures already put in place to advance environmental issues within the club and its ecosystem. Even if there are still actions to be implemented, their approach is an example and shows that there are solutions to reconcile sport and the environment.

“Obtaining this new FPFP label underlines the commitment of all the components of the OL Group. It rewards the daily investment of our teams in finding the right solutions to enable us to move towards ever more virtuous and sustainable behavior. We must take into account the major upheavals that are shaping our world in order to change mentalities and build a responsible model today for future generations,” said Jean-Michel Aulas, President of Olympique Lyonnais.