Current events bring us face to face with the reality that, while one part of the planet is suffocating and cruelly short of water, another is underwater. Today, more than ever, it's essential that we all play our part in reducing our environmental impact and contributing to a sustainable future. That's why, in 2010, the WTA Strasbourg Tournament are committed to a voluntary approach to sustainable development, positioning itself as the precursors in the organization of an sustainable sports event.
Aware that reducing impact requires global management, the WTA Strasbourg Tournament has been working on cross-functional actions for the past 14 years, with a view to continuous improvement.
This is how, by taking on put sustainability at the heart of its strategy, that the IS has gained in prestige and now enjoys the status of 1st French sustainable sports event and worldwide recognition as a "Green” reference in tennis.
Thus, more than 80 processes have been set up, focusing on different areas:
MOBILITY
WASTE MANAGEMENT
FOOD
COMMUNICATION
SOCIAL ACTIONS
The most recent carbon audit showed that there has been a 60% reduction in emissions per spectator between 2010 and 2023, this encouraging result was made possible by a strategy of impact reduction implemented by all those involved in the WTA Strasbourg Tournament.
Today, alongside the world's greatest sports events, the WTA Strasbourg tournament is keen tointensify their engagements as well as the means used, and it is in this sense that they deploy their ethical charter.
This charter is the starting point for a more ambitious strategy for the coming years, in favor of a more sustainable future. Its aim is to reaffirm the values of the tournament, and to formalize and guide future actions. It is also intended to inspire collective action, so that all our stakeholders (the public, the organization, volunteers, players, service providers, partners, local authorities, etc.) play their part in building a sustainable future. In this sense, the charter will be regularly shared and enriched to adapt to changes in our environment and to new obstacles. The IS ethical charter will thus become our common compass.
Thanks to this sustainable approach, in 2016 the CNOSF (Comité National Olympique et Sportif Français) awarded the WTA Strasbourg tournament the label "Développement Durable, le Sport s'Engage". In June 2022, at the Ecosport Awards ceremony, the IS received the award for the most committed sporting event of the year. The prize, awarded by the Union Sport et Cycle's Sustainable Development Commission, recognizes the environmental initiatives implemented by the WTA Strasbourg Tournament over the past twelve years.
The WTA Strasbourg Tournament is one of the world's great sporting events signatories of the “Charter of 15 eco-responsible commitments” of the French Ministry of Sports and WWF. These agreements target 15 quantified objectives designed to make respect for the environment an essential criterion in the organization of major sporting events and the management of sports facilities.
CARBON OFFSETTING OF RESIDUAL TRACE
Since 2021, the IS, with the support of the Engie Fondation, a carbon contribution project, certified by the French Ministry of Ecological Transition's Low-Carbon label, label guaranteeing this system.
This funding was used for a reforestation project in two of our Alsatian forests, located in Mollkirch and Andlau respectively.
These had been destroyed by bark beetle attacks and each year suffer the consequences of climate change: drought, water stress, premature death.
This carbon offset project places the WTA Strasbourg Tournament as the 1st carbon-neutral tennis tournament on the professional circuit.
There's still a long way to go towards sustainable sport, but WTA Strasbourg Tournament is determined to set an example and invites all its stakeholders to share in this common vision, that of exemplary, virtuous tennis.