Several players have taken the initiative to offset their annual travel expenses in recent years. This new tool will encourage greater adoption among the 800+ members, with the goal of 90% of players on the DP World Tour, Challenge Tour, Legends Tour and G4D Tour regularly offsetting tournament travel expenses by 2027.
Five-time Dubai Tour winner Rory McIlroy has been offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions associated with his travel to the tournament for the past four years. He said: “As golfers we have the opportunity to travel all over the world doing a job we love, but I do realise the impact this can have on the environment, which is why I started taking steps a few years ago to offset my carbon footprint and make my travel carbon neutral. I think we can all play our part in some way and it’s great to see the DP World Tour launching this new tool to help and encourage members to track and offset their travel.”
Today’s announcement follows a similar scheme launched in May for DP World Tour ticket holders, where fans can now offset travel and accommodation costs when attending DP World Tour events.
Helping players reduce greenhouse gas emissions when travelling to tournaments is an important part of the Tour’s wider green drive, which is committed to reducing emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040. In April, the Tour released its first Impact Summary Report, a comprehensive audit of its 10 tournaments, their operations and venues through 2023. The report highlighted that player travel accounts for an average of 35% of greenhouse gas emissions per tournament.
A range of other travel and transport initiatives are already in place and expanding to encourage low-carbon transport options, including the introduction of electric courtesy cars at events such as the BMW PGA Championship and Genesis Scottish Open. In addition, the new 2024 season will see tournaments clustered into regional “rotations”, which will help reduce flying time between events.
Maria Grandinetti-Milton, head of group sustainability at the European Tour, said: “We are golf’s global tour and with 44 tournaments in 24 countries this season, this inevitably generates a significant carbon footprint from travel that is currently unavoidable. We are redoubling our efforts to help reduce these emissions and offsetting our unavoidable emissions through Gold Standard certified climate projects that deliver measurable climate and community benefits linked to important principles of global climate justice.
“Professional athletes are extremely busy and focused on their performance on the golf course. We’ve ensured this new tool is easy to use and is backed by a communications programme that highlights its importance to our members and their teams. If we are to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, everyone needs to come together and play their part.”
Through a strategic partnership with the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation, the DP World Tour has taken a number of steps to make its competitions and operations as sustainable as possible. These measures centre on resource efficiency, climate action, community engagement and nature conservation. In addition to offsetting, the overall approach to climate mitigation includes initiating investments to increase awareness, support and carbon reduction across the sport, with an increasing focus on ecosystem restoration projects in local communities at individual tournaments.
