United to offset carbon emissions during Tour 2022

The club has purchased more than 1,800 tonnes of carbon offsets to cover all flights by the players and club staff during the tour of Thailand and Australia.

The tour party will depart from Manchester today (Friday), ahead of the first pre-season game against Liverpool in Bangkok on 12 July, followed by stops in Melbourne and Perth over the next three weeks.

Players and staff are hugely excited by the opportunity to meet and entertain fans in each of the destinations as the club embarks on its first full pre-season tour since 2019.

However, Manchester United recognises the impact of international travel on climate change and is working with Carbon Neutral, a leading carbon offset provider, to offset emission from all of its tour flights.

Carbon offsets purchased by the club will be drawn from the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, which is situated in the northern wheat-belt region of Western Australia and is one of only 36 global biodiversity hotspots.

Biodiversity hotspots are recognised as areas in which plants, animals, and ecosystems are at extreme risk of destruction. These hotspots also have an exceptionally high number of plant and animal species unique to their regions and collectively account for 90 per cent of all species on Earth.

The trees and shrubs planted in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor are part of the first project in Australia to be certified by the internationally recognised Gold Standard Organisation – a global best practice benchmark for emission reduction projects.

Collette Roche, Manchester United Chief Operating Officer, said: “While we are delighted to be back on tour, visiting our passionate global fanbase and preparing for the new season ahead, we are also pleased to be able to mitigate the environmental impact of our travel by investing in crucial biodiversity projects.

“We must all take responsibility for the impact we have on our planet and as a football club with millions of fans globally we recognise that this is an important issue that we must take seriously and address.”

The carbon offset commitment adds to a range of measures taken by Manchester United to limit its environmental impact. The club has achieved 13 consecutive years of reduction in its carbon emissions and is ranked in the top five most sustainable football clubs in the Premier League.

The club was also the first UK sports organisation to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard certification for commitment to carbon reduction.