ACCIONA OPEN DE ESPAÑA PRESENTED BY MADRID

Sustainability in figuresSustainable strategy2023 Results

ACCIONA OPEN DE ESPAÑA PRESENTED BY MADRID

Sustainability in figuresSustainable strategy2023 Results

ACCIONA OPEN DE ESPAÑA 2024

The first European Golf Tour to reduce CO2 and contribute towards decarbonising the planet.

FOR THE 4TH YEAR RUNNING, ACCIONA IS THE SPANISH GOLF OPEN’S MAIN SPONSOR

The first sporting event in the world with positive water and carbon footprints

The Spanish Open, one of the world’s oldest tournaments, has been held for over more than a century and has formed part of the PGA European Tour since 1971. In 2024, it returned to Madrid’s Campo Villa Club (26-29 September), as yet again a tournament at the forefront of sustainability and generator of positive impact.

    ACCIONA is again affirming its leadership as Strategic and Sustainable Partner of The Open, opting for an innovative design focused once more on decarbonization and transforming the tournament into the world’s first sporting event to generate positive Water and Carbon Footprints.

    OVERALL FIGURES: 3 YEARS OF THE TOURNAMENT

    +2,500

    TONNES OF CO2 EQUIVALENT OFFSET

    +7,700

    trees planted

    - 29%

    REDUCTION IN CARBON FOOTPRINT PER PARTICIPANT

    The strategy behind the 2024 Open has centered on reducing the event’s carbon and water footprints, and focuses on 2 levels: GOVERNANCE and REGENERATIVE TOURNAMENT DESIGN.

     

    GOBERNANCE

    MTP renewed ISO 20121 international certification for the event in April 2024, with the support of ACCIONA.

    The UNE EN ISO 20121: 2013 standard is the reference for the sporting events sector and the standard with most international recognitions since the 2012 London Olympic Games. The 2024 Spanish Golf Open can once again count upon this internationally recognized certification accrediting the sustainable management of the tournament in all its operations.

    REGENERATIVE TOURNAMENT DESIGN

    It’s not enough just to reduce the potential social and environmental footprints caused by activities involved in the organization of a sporting tournament or any other event. We need to change the paradigm, taking a step forward, leaving a positive social, economic and environmental impact on the places they’re held, prioritizing the long-term viability of the economies and communities they affect. The regenerative design of the 2024 championship answers the following questions:

    • How do we optimize the efforts of the tournament to ensure that the impact generated is transformed into a favorable balance for wellbeing in the area of the event (mobility, circularity of materials, energy and water use)?
    • What role can the ACCIONA Spanish Open play to continue to generate a positive economic, social and environmental impact on the region?
    • What should be done to guarantee that life continues to prosper?

     

    1. SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR GREATER POSITIVE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

    We would like to go further than just a zero emissions event. To achieve this, we have deployed a catalogue of solutions that guided the sustainability principles of the 2024 Open throughout the event cycle and more.

    We are concentrating our actions around the 3 axes of most impact to transform the event’s Carbon and Water Footprints into positive impacts:

    Water, circularity (based on materials, waste and energy), and a Sustainable Mobility Plan.

    3 sustainability pillars have been taken into account in coming up with these solutions: protection of the natural environment, benefits to the communities and collectives taking part, and conservation of resources in the interests of economic performance.

    1. WATER

    We defined a strategic plan to reduce the Water Footprint from The Open, making sure we established lasting alliances with Madrid City Hall and CCVM as managers of the event location.

    The plan for the championship is aligned with the Water Footprint reduction strategy we are developing with the Spanish Olympic Committee, with the aim of defining how to manage water consumption using efficient models.

    To achieve this, we carried out the following actions:

    • Calculation of the tournament’s Water Footprint via Life Cycle Analysis methodology (based on the ISO 14046 standard), considering:
      • direct water consumption for irrigation, bathrooms and kitchens at the event
      • indirect water for use in catering, merchandizing, laundry of volunteer uniforms, and transport managed by the event organization, etc.  
    • Development of a Strategic Proposal for the reduction of the Water Footprint for future editions of the tournament.

    2. CIRCULAR ECONOMY (BASED ON MATERIALS, WASTE AND ENERGY)

    The circularity axis of the tournament is focused on reducing waste, reuse of materials and decarbonization of the supply chain. We highlight the following measures:

    • 100% of reusable structures (stands, huts, etc.), 100% reuse of furniture from one edition to the next.
    • Sustainable merchandizing, reusing products from the previous year.
    • Sustainability of materials, with tarpaulins 100% free of PVC.
    • Elimination of single-use plastics in all catering and refill stations.
    • Training of waste recycling for catering providers.
    • Revision of the design logos on different containers, clarifying which elements should be placed in which container.
    • Increase in sustainability in the catering area, offering vegetarian and 100% local product menus.
    • Broad selection and contracting of local companies, redirecting economic and social benefits to the local community (transport, catering, etc.)
    • Development of a Strategic Decarbonization Plan for the supply chain for future editions of the tournament.
    • Preparation of a techno-economic viability report for the use of the HVO biofuel for all diesel vehicles and machinery with a view to using it as a measure for decarbonizing future editions of the event.

     

    3. SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY PLAN

    With the aim of reducing the category of the biggest Carbon Footprint at the tournament – transport – we encouragued the use of sustainable transport with special attention to the emissions generated by moving around all the attendees and organizers. The following measures are being promoted:

    • An awareness campaign about the use of sustainable transport in attending the event.
    • Greater support for sustainable movement: 39 electric chargers on the tournament grounds, 100%-hybrid transport fleet for players and sponsors, free-of-charge from Avenida Complutense.
    • Monitoring of all mobility data for attendees, suppliers, players and workers.

    2. DECARBONISATION OF THE EVENT

    After the event we calculate the Carbon Footprint generated, using Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology. During the course of the competition we garner the data for the calculations with the aim of quantifying values of the final emissions in the main impact areas, including mobility, consumption, purchases and contracting, infrastructure and wastes.

    We analyze the Carbon Footprint, Water Scarcity Footprint and Environmental Footprint in all areas of operations for the complete cycle of the event:

    • Mobility of participants, workers and attendees.
    • Water and energy production.
    • Production of catering materials, including food, packaging, glasses and cutlery.
    • Production of infrastructure materials (structures, tarpaulins, etc.)
    • Transport of goods and infrastructure.
    • Transport and management of waste generated during the event.

    The final emissions that weren’t able to be eliminated or reduced by implementing sustainable solutions, were offset through the acquisition of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) granted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, via ACCIONA wind farms in developing countries, guaranteeing the neutrality of the 2024 Spanish Golf Open.

     

    3. POSITIVE REGENERATION

    Once the neutrality of the event has been achieved, we regenerate the event location using Nature-based Solutions (NbS), leaving a positive impact of the same magnitude generated by the emissions. The solutions generates a positive impact corresponding not only to the Carbon Footprint calculated for the event, but also that of the ACCIONA Emissions Under Par Award, which was presented to the winner and will offset tenfold their annual Carbon Footprint and that of their caddie.

    For this year’s NbS, an innovative method has been chosen: MIYAWAKI FORESTS, conceived in Japan by Dr Akira Miyawaki initially as a reforestation method for urban areas, based on the natural growth of woods and forests indigenous to each location, with large densities of species at all levels. This method will allow the restoration of local ecosystems and employ biomimicry to grow them as near as possible to nature, and will generate opportunities for involving and strengthening local communities, promoting circularity and efficient resource use and improving local quality of life.

     

    4. TANGIBLE SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNICATIONS

    The communications strategy for the 2024 edition focused on the visibility of the accumulated results from previous editions, emphasizing the 4 years ACCIONA has sponsored the tournament as Sustainable Partner.

    LEAVING A POSITIVE IMPACT

    2023 EVENT RESULTS

    During last year’s event more than 819 TONNES OF CO2 EQUIVALENT were saved or offset (tournament overall + ACCIONA Emissions Under Par Award involving the planting of almost 3,000 trees in the city of Madrid).

     

    The Carbon Footprint was also reduced by an additional 4% thanks to the implementation of more than 50 sustainable actions from the Solutions Catalogue designed for the tournament, covering social, economic and environmental aspects and involving sponsors, managers at the Campo Villa Club, attendees and players.

    Solutions highlighted by the 2023 edition:

    • Temporary installation of ACCIONA solar panels covering 585 kWh of consumption by the tournament.
    • Help for attendees using electric vehicles combined with free access for vehicles with environmental or blue etiquettes and a 50% discount for vehicles with 3 or more passengers.
    • Awareness campaign on the use of sustainable transport to attend the event, particularly aimed at attendees through the ticket purchasing website, social media and press.
    • Increase in the number of electric vehicle recharging points with respect to regulations, with a total of 36 chargers in the tournament precinct, 30 more than legally required.
    • Reduction of the impact of player transport by means of a 100% electric fleet for the vehicles of participants, sponsors and VIP attendees.
    • Elimination of plastic packaging in catering, substituting it with paper and reusables.
    • Monitoring of mobility data for attendees, participants, suppliers and organizers, facilitating the a more reliable calculation of the footprint.
    • 100% infrastructure reuse.
    • More sustainable catering, with more vegan menus and over 90% cold products in restaurants.
    • Training in how to recycle waste for catering providers and main waste managers.
    • Revision of logo design for recycling points, clarifying the elements that should be introduced into each container.
    • Prioritization of local food products and local purchasing via Merca Madrid.
    • Promotion of more sustainable food products through the introduction of vegetarian food outlets at the event.