As I reflect on the past year, I can't help but feel immensely proud of the journey that Leicester Nirvana Football Club has embarked upon, chasing the dream of net zero and sustainability. It's been nothing short of remarkable, filled with milestones, challenges, and most importantly, a resolute commitment to sustainability.

Over a year ago, I wrote a hugely popular blog about our journey towards a greener future in our inaugural national blog titled 'Bridging the gap between inequalities and sustainability in grassroots football.' I was told that it was the most popular blog of 2023 in the Football and Climate Change Newsletter. If you didn’t have the pleasure of reading the first blog, it would be useful to read it for context.

So where do I start, do I talk about meeting my new American colleagues from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Green Sports Alliance, or a self-proclaimed Climate Influencer. Or maybe my colleagues from the Sustainability Huddle, Global Youth Forum Kenya, my German commandries or the man behind the magic at De Montfort University in Leicester. - They know who they are!

Choices, choices, wherever I start, I will not be able to cover everything that’s for sure, but I hope to give you enough.

Our net zero journey continues with a crucial focus on education and internal cultural transformation. We recognised the need to embed sustainability into our club's ethos, which led us to develop our first ever Net Zero Policy, a testament to our unwavering commitment I like to say. Soon after, having stamped our commitment, we next created a club Strategic Plan: Achieving Net Zero, which outlines our priorities across five strategic pillars: Education and Engagement, Carbon Output, Carbon Reduction Strategies, Sustainable Energy Partnerships, and Long-Term Sustainability. We don’t take these documents or steps for granted, as we recognise that we are one of the first grassroots clubs to embed this thinking in to their clubs.

In a recent development, the Premier League unveiled its Environmental Sustainability Commitment, setting a minimum standard of action for professional clubs. Although this is a step in right direction, Nirvana has already laid the groundwork to achieve these same standards at a community level. Which begs the question, are the Leagues commitments aspirational enough?

One thing that I must shout about, is our collaboration with esteemed academic, Prof. Leticia Ozawa-Meida from DMU, who has been instrumental in achieving the calculation of Nirvana’s carbon footprint. It must also be acknowledged that Nirvana are one of the first grassroots clubs in the Country to have taken this step (here we go again). The results of the carbon footprint show that the largest sources of emissions of Nirvana relate to energy use, gas and electricity (70%), followed by the emissions related to travel of players and families to the matches (27%), and in less extent to emissions due to water use, waste generated and procurement of players uniforms (3%). That all sounds very technical, but in simple terms, going forward, these insights will guide our strategic actions towards emissions reduction.