Eurosport Events signs Sports for Climate Action Framework

Every promoted series will be committed to setting a path for a low-carbon future

All-electric PURE ETCR series the ‘Flagship’ for best practice

One of the leading global promotors,  Eurosport Events, has signalled a further move towards a low-carbon future for motorsport by joining the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework’s (UNFCCC) Sports for Climate Action initiative.

As a signatory to the Sports for Climate Action Framework, the promotor of PURE ETCR, the world’s first all-electric touring car championship, will work with all its series partners to commit achieving and supporting global climate change goals.

The Sports for Climate Action initiative calls on sporting organisations to acknowledge the contribution of the sports sector to climate change and their responsibility to strive towards climate neutrality for a safer planet.

As well as further driving forward the electrification of motorsport with PURE ETCR, Eurosport Events, part of Discovery, Inc. promotes more than 30 major global sporting events across five championships annually.  PURE ETCR will be the flagship series for best practice within Eurosport Events in this regard. It has already committed to increasing the visibility of electromobility and providing a global platforms for major car manufacturers change the perception of electric cars into one that views them as cool, fun and desirable.

Speaking at the launch event for the Framework, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa explained that sports organisations and athletes are in a unique position in the race against climate change “because sport touches on every cross-section of society.”

With this in mind, Eurosport Events hopes its commitment will inspire sports fans, communities and governments to raise their climate ambition in a united effort to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, said: “Today is a very proud day for us as an organisation and a big statement in terms of our environmental commitments going forwards. Eurosport Events currently promotes more than 30 major events and five championships globally – including PURE ETCR – so by making this commitment to the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action initiative, we are making a decisive statement that we acknowledge the impact of sport to climate change and aim to reduce our own impact in collaboration with all the other signatories across the world. This is a race we can, and must, win to try to help reduce the risks of climate change.”

As a tangible example this year, PURE ETCR’s maiden season in 2021 will see several notable steps to reduce harmful emissions, including the use of an all-weather tyre from Goodyear, meaning fewer will need to be produced and transported.

The series has a strict sea-freight-only policy is in place, which is 100 times less harmful than air transport and made possible by the promotor thanks to a considered and optimised calendar, as well as exclusively utilising decarbonised electricity for charging the race cars provided by selecting hydrogen generators.

In line with the five core principles enshrined in the UN Framework and the aims of the Paris Agreement in 2016, Eurosport Events will strive to:

1. Promote greater environmental responsibility
2. Reduce the overall climate impact from sports
3. Use its platforms to educate for climate action
4. Promote sustainable and responsible consumption
5. Advocate for climate action through its communications

More broadly, Discovery’s global initiative, RISE, is the company’s commitment to Reducing Inequality and Supporting Empowerment for underserved populations across the globe, addressing social mobility through access to the most basic human needs. Powered by its partnership with Save the Children and amplified through local charities and organizations, RISE supports more than 10 million people in 22 nations identified as having the most need. The partnership has taken on greater breadth since the it was launched in early 2020, much in part due the many issues known to drive inequality such as racial injustice and COVID-19.

Media contacts:  

Laura Bilman (Eurosport Events)

+33 7 60 96 94 41 

Laura_Bilman@discovery.com

Jamie O’Leary (PURE ETCR)

+44 7725 087316

media@pure-etcr.com

James Hillier (Discovery)

+44 7778 129413

James_Hillier@Discovery.com

About Eurosport Events:
Established in 2007, Eurosport Events is the Discovery Communications-owned Eurosport Group’s sport event management division. It promotes the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup and FIA European Rally Championship under agreements with the sport’s governing body, the FIA. From 2020 it will promote PURE ETCR, the world’s first all-electric touring car championship. Eurosport Events delivers a full spectrum of event management services including promotion, television production, media rights distribution, press office management, sponsorship acquisition and client servicing.

About PURE ETCR:

Debuting in 2021, PURE ETCR is the world’s first all-electric, multi-brand touring car championship. Promoted by Eurosport Events Ltd and supported by founding partners Goodyear and TAG Heuer, PURE ETCR is the only series where the world’s biggest car manufacturers can showcase their road-going electric vehicles while competing for international titles. Developed to WSC’s ETCR technical concept, PURE ETCR’s cars are the most powerful and fastest-accelerating touring cars ever made, with a peak power of 500kW equal to 670bhp. Drivers compete in an action-packed series of on-track knockout battles with the overall winner crowned as each event’s King or Queen and losers eliminated from competition at each stage. The 2021 season comprises six events in Europe and Asia, held over a combination of punishing street circuits and classic permanent courses, all rewarding the driver who proves fastest in a pure test of speed and racecraft.

About Discovery:

Discovery, Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is a global leader in real life entertainment, serving a passionate audience of superfans around the world with content that inspires, informs and entertains. Discovery delivers over 8,000 hours of original programming each year and has category leadership across deeply loved content genres around the world. Available in 220 countries and territories and nearly 50 languages, Discovery is a platform innovator, reaching viewers on all screens, including TV Everywhere products such as the GO portfolio of apps; direct-to-consumer streaming services such as discovery+, Food Network Kitchen and MotorTrend OnDemand; digital-first and social content from Group Nine Media; a landmark natural history and factual content partnership with the BBC; and a strategic alliance with PGA TOUR to create the international home of golf. Discovery’s portfolio of premium brands includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and the forthcoming multi-platform JV with Chip and Joanna Gaines, Magnolia Network, as well as OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network in the U.S., Discovery Kids in Latin America, and Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe. For more information, please visit corporate.discovery.com and follow @DiscoveryIncTV across social platforms.