WHITE PLAINS, June 14, 2019 (USTA Press Release)
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced that it has signed the United Nation’s Sports for Climate Action Framework.
The USTA, which has long been a leader in the sports industry when it comes to environmental sustainability through its US Open Green Initiative, joins a group of international sports organizations that have committed to drive climate awareness and action in support of the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
The Framework’s two overarching objectives are to promote a set of principles for the global sports community to adopt in order to combat climate change and to use sports as a unifying tool to drive climate awareness and the action among global citizens. The five principles of the Framework are:
- Undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility
- Reduce overall climate impact
- Educate for climate action
- Promote sustainable and responsible consumption
- Advocate for climate action through communication
“The USTA is proud to support the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and become an international voice for environmental responsibility,” said Gordon Smith, CEO and Executive Director, USTA. “Tennis is truly a global sport and we are looking forward to using the US Open as a platform to promote the important principles set forth in the Framework.”
The US Open Green Initiative, which is now entering its 12th year, was originally championed by International Tennis Hall-of-Famer Billie Jean King when the National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., the site of the US Open, was named after the legendary champion and activist in 2006.
The USTA’s decade-plus commitment to reducing the environmental impact of the one of the highest-attended annual sporting events in the world has resulted in the reduction of greenhouse emissions by more than 110,000 metric tons through waste diversion, recycled paper use, carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates.
The Framework was launched in December 2018 at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP24) in Katowice, Poland, and included founding signatories: International Olympic Committee (IOC), Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, French Tennis Federation (Roland Garros), International Sailing Federation, World Surf League, Forest Green Rovers Football Club, Formula E. Since then, U.S.-based organizations including the New York Yankees, the National Basketball Association, and AEG have also signed on.
