A briefing note designed to help outline steps for sports organisations to assess their impacts on biodiversity has been produced by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a Sports for Nature partner, in collaboration with the University of Oxford.
The resource, titled ‘Sports for Nature: A brief guide on calculating impacts of nature’, introduces a six-tiered system, allowing organisations to assess their biodiversity impact at a level that suits their size, resources and expertise.
The approach aims to help organisations to get started and start where they can, with additional progressive steps available for those with more capacity and capability, so that they can secure measurable, long-term progress, taking into account emerging global regulations and growing environmental expectations.
According to lead researcher Dr. Joseph Bull, Associate Professor in Climate Change Biology at the University of Oxford, sports organisations are increasingly expected to consider the broader environmental implications of their activities, from their direct operations to their supply chains.
The note was informed by the work that the University of Oxford undertook when auditing its own impact on nature as an institution, discovering that the impact of its laboratories were far larger than they first thought.
“The idea with this guide was to give sports organisations of any size, even those just starting to look at biodiversity or nature as an issue, different levels of engagement depending on their size, resources or amount of expertise in-house,” he says.
The six tiers of assessment range from basic identification of biodiversity risks to comprehensive evaluations of the entire supply chain. For larger, more well-resourced organisations, it encourages a more advanced approach, requiring them to go beyond the basics and take more ambitious steps to reduce their biodiversity impact.
One of the more innovative aspects of the briefing, says Dr. Bull, is its alignment with emerging regulatory frameworks, with many larger sporting organisations needing to assess their impact on nature as part of regulatory compliance.
The guide takes into account the growing pressure on businesses to adhere to regulations such as the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN). These frameworks encourage organisations to quantify and report their environmental impacts, including biodiversity, and provide a foundation for measuring progress.
Many sports organisations already track their carbon emissions, and this data can be used as a starting point to estimate their biodiversity impact. By linking carbon data to biodiversity risks, organisations can better understand the interconnections between their environmental impacts and identify areas for deeper analysis.
The guide also addresses the resources required for biodiversity assessment. For smaller organisations or those new to the process, the initial steps – such as identifying the types of impacts and mapping impact locations – can often be managed in-house. These early tiers are designed to be accessible and practical, ensuring that organisations can start the process with limited expertise or resources.
However, as organisations move to more advanced assessments, specialist knowledge may be required, especially when dealing with complex supply chains or large-scale infrastructure projects.
“It is recommended that larger and better-resourced signatories of the Sport for Nature Framework work to get to at least Tier 3 within their first 12 months of joining the initiative so that the intention of signatories correlates with measurable and meaningful action,” Dr. Bull adds.
Sports for Nature Framework Signatories have access to a self-assessment tool to map an organisation’s relationship with nature. This tool allows sport organisations to establish and prioritise their pressures on nature as the foundation for an action plan.
It also comes as a handful of sports organisations, including Sports for Nature signatory World Sailing, are collaborating with the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa on an EU-funded programme, called BENCHES, to develop a biodiversity tool in the coming years.
In addition, the guide explores the potential role of the Nature Positive University Network in supporting sports organisations to establish biodiversity baselines. Through collaboration with this network, sports organisations can gain access to expert advice and resources to help them refine their biodiversity assessments and set clear conservation targets.