Following on from our previous blog on sustainability in football (read here), it begs the question: How well is the best and most popular league in world football when it comes to sustainability?
Premier League:
As the most-watched football league in the world, reaching over 920 million households across 189 countries, the Premier League holds incredible power when it comes to shaping conversations and behaviours far beyond the pitch. With such vast reach comes significant responsibility.
In March 2025, the league finally unveiled its long-awaited sustainability strategy, marking its first direct steps toward environmental leadership. The plan focuses on three key priority areas:
According to the Premier League, these goals will influence everything from how decisions are made to how suppliers are selected, embedding sustainability into the core of league operations. They’ve also pledged to “future-proof” the game, thus ensuring that football can thrive for generations to come in a changing climate.
This marks a significant shift, but not everyone is convinced it’s enough. With the carbon footprint of the 2022/23 Premier League season estimated at 36,821 tonnes of CO₂ (roughly equivalent to 15.68 million litres of petrol) many critics have called the league out for moving too slowly. As professional footballer and sustainability advocate David Wheeler put it, taking over two years to release a formal strategy amounts to “dragging their feet.”
That said, the Premier League’s new direction still represents an important turning point. With so much global visibility, the league is in a unique position to inspire action, on and off the pitch. Whether it’s educating fans, setting a higher standard for clubs, or influencing other competitions worldwide, the opportunity to lead by example has never been greater. If done right, this could be the beginning of football’s biggest win yet.
