Our Founder, Ester Fonseca-Patriarco, sat down with Innandya Kusumawardhani van der Kolk and Logan Waddle to discuss what we know about the carbon footprint of motorsports and potential solutions to reduce emissions.
Our Experts
Innandya is the Business Transformation Lead in Asia Pacific & India at bp and the Co-founder & COO of CarbonEthics. Her organization aims to restore the climate balance through nature-based solutions with pioneers in blue carbon conservation.
Logan is the Sustainability Program Leader at Penske Entertainment, which is part of a company that operates in various industry segments, including truck leasing, transportation logistics, and professional motorsport.
The Talk
On our first Talk With Experts, Logan discussed where motorsport greenhouse gas emissions come from. Unlike many people, motorsports' carbon footprint happens mainly off the track. Logan says its most significant portion is outside our control and falls under scope 3.
"Scope 3 is everything that is outside your control, but it wouldn't otherwise happen if your event wasn't happening." Logan highlights that traveling is commonly responsible for sports and events' largest chunk of emissions. Especially staff and fan travel and the logistic of moving cars around the country or the globe. "We are still responsible for them because those emissions wouldn't be happening if our organization didn't exist."
Innandya discussed how the motorsport industry is an example of efficiency. For instance, a pit would take minutes a few decades ago, and today is done in seconds. She also talked about the difference between carbon offsetting and carbon reduction.
"I know I sell carbon offsets, but I don't usually tell people to do carbon offsets right away. So if a customer or a corporate client comes to me, then what I'd advise is reduction first. So what are your reduction plans?"
"Offsetting all your emissions just shows a sign or a signal to the industry that you are not serious about reducing your carbon emissions."
Besides giving tips on how to find the right partner to offset emissions, Logan and Innandya also talked about sustainable solutions in motorsport other than carbon offsetting. For example, IndyCar is adopting a 100% renewable fuel for its cars and using a more sustainable rubber on its tires.
Watch the full talk to get all insights on the carbon footprint of motorsports!
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