Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

This overview addresses sport’s role and potential in relation to the fifteenth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). It outlines the contribution of sport to ensure access, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The overview aims at informing, inspiring, encouraging and supporting sport’s contributions to the SDGs by football clubs, foundations, community trusts, football associations and leagues.

• Sport offers a platform for education and promotion regarding the preservation of terrestrial ecosystems.

• Sport can promote awareness raising campaigns on biodiversity, including the dangers of the illegal trade in wildlife. It can contribute to preserve biodiversity through responsible lifestyle choices.

• Sport, through educational initiatives, can provide well-researched insights into the interactions between biodiversity and the lifestyle choices by explaining the interrelatedness of food, consumption, culture and biodiversity conservation.

• Sport in natural terrestrial settings can play an important role in ensuring the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Sport, especially outdoor sport, can incorporate safeguards, activities and messages promoting the sustainable and environmentally respectful use of terrestrial resources.

• Sport is associated to important values and proved to be an effective platform for values advocacy and education. It can therefore be used as a tool for the integration of ecosystem and biodiversity related values into development processes.

• The environmentally friendly organisation of sport events, including the construction of sport facilities and infrastructure, can serve as a best practise model and provide sustainability assessment and recommendations on best practices to protect the ecosystem, e.g. prior to the construction of sport facilities for sport events. This comes with innovative solutions and the most resource efficient and clean energy initiatives.

Click on one of the icons below to learn more about each goal and how sport can contribute to achieving that goal.