Mixed response to AFL's global warming goal

It seems global warming has dominated the news for months now, and rightly so, but the issue certainly hit the mainstream recently when the Australia Football League (AFL) announced its intention to be the first sporting league to go carbon neutral.

It all began in late September when the AFL released details of its three-year program - AFL Green - to neutralise the greenhouse emissions generated from AFL House, the NAB Cup, Toyota Premiership Season and Finals Series matches.

These emissions come to an estimated 120,000 tonnes, and if the program is successful in achieving 'carbon neutral' status, the benefits will equal taking 25,000 cars off the road or planting 500,000 trees.

The footballers have teamed up with Origin Energy, and have set a goal of achieving this neutrality by 2009.

At the launch of the initiative, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou proudly commended his code for being "the first sporting league in Australia to reduce its carbon footprint to zero".

Collingwood was the first AFL club to actively commit to the AFL Green, which is hardly surprising, considering the media attention coach Mick Malthouse received in 1998 for his conservationist stance on Western Australia's old-growth forests.

Demetriou has since called on other state, suburban and country leagues to follow Collingwood's lead.

Origin Energy and the AFL consulted with the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) to develop the program, and the green advocate is clearly delighted to have such a high-profile spokesperson for this important cause.

"Climate change is real, it's here and it demands serious action from government, business and the community. Well done to the AFL for choosing to reduce pollution with the support of Origin Energy," executive director at the ACF, Don Henry said.

It's not the first time that Origin has worked with high-profile sporting events to promote the environment. National manager of the company's new business development unit, Mark Vanbeek told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) in late September that Origin worked with the organisers of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games to make some of its events carbon neutral.

Discussions for a similar venture began with the AFL early this year as "we wanted something that would last longer and get more into the community's mind", Vanbeek told the SMH.

And so just how does something as large as our AFL become carbon neutral?

For a start, there are the emissions produced by the games themselves, such as lighting and the energy to prepare and serve food.

There's also a massive amount of energy used to move staff and players to and from games.

Investments will be made by Origin into renewable energy sources, including solar and wind. The AFL is also doing energy audits on its facilities to be more efficient in what it uses.

Some of the energy will also be offset, with credits for planting trees and public education programs about global warming by each club.

It wouldn't be an Australian initiative without the 'knockers', however, and Matthew Warren and Andrew Ramsay recently wrote a rather cynical report for The Australian.

They went to great length to calculate that the AFL would need to plant 30,000 trees to offset the greenhouse effect its games are currently generating, before going on to add in 'carbon-eating' elements that the scheme does not take into account.

They highlight the emissions that are generated by the League's fans, estimating that an extra 100,000 trees per year would be needed to combat this.

"The code's true environmentalists, however, are those who stay at home on their backsides to watch the games on television," the pair report.

We'll certainly know sooner rather than later if the project is successful. If all goes to plan, games held in Victoria are scheduled to be carbon-neutral by the end of this year.

South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are aiming for results by the end of 2008, with New South Wales and Western Australia to be carbon neutral by 2009.