'An opportunity to lead' - Liverpool's sustainability ambitions

BBC News

22-04-2025

Liverpool have had plenty of success on the field this season, but it is off the pitch where they are also trying to be leaders.Four years ago, Liverpool introduced their sustainability programme The Red Way. It brings together the club's work in four focus areas - people, planet, communities and strategy."The Red Way is Liverpool's commitment to building a better future for our people, our planet and our communities," Liverpool director of impact Rishi Jain told BBC Sport."In 2021, we had a key moment when we agreed, as a club, that it was really important for us to bring under one umbrella the multiple programmes that were being delivered. That's how The Red Way was born."It allowed us to create a sense of purpose and an almost instant behavioural shift for how we operated as a global club. It just gave us that identity that we really needed."We really put ourselves out there, which was new for us. It was a little bit scary, but actually, it's has really helped us since in how we progress."This year's Earth Day on 22 April sees the release of Liverpool's third annual sustainability report, external.It highlights the progress made across all areas over the past 12 months, including the reduction of overall carbon emissions by 12.5%, the Anfield pitch now being fully recyclable, the hosting of its first Iftar event during Ramadan and more than 127,000 people receiving support from the LFC Foundation.Alongside these, Liverpool representatives have attended 24 international sustainability events, including COP28, and received recognition for the work with nine major sustainability awards."As a club, we are probably held in a higher regard by our stakeholders and our supporters," Jain said. "You can see that in two ways - either as a burden or as an opportunity."We see it as an opportunity to lead, both on and off the pitch. Of course, on the pitch has gone really, really well for us this season, but off the pitch from a Red Way perspective, we can say the same."We've had an incredibly successful 12 months or so. When you talk about social and environmental impact - whether it's through our foundation, around diversity, inclusion or surrounded by sustainability - our supporters and stakeholders expect us to do that work."That's not the reason why we do it, but it also helps us understand that we can really push on for change and be proactive."Come back later on Tuesday to read more about Liverpool's sustainability drive