SINGAPORE – The Sentosa Golf Club (SGC) has become the world’s first golf club to join the United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action Initiative, after signing the initiative following its collaboration with international golf sustainability non-profit organisation GEO Foundation on Friday (July 31).
The UN’s Sports for Climate Action Initiative aims to support and guide sports organisations and their communities on a path to achieving the global climate change goals set out by world leaders in the Paris Agreement.
Other major sporting organisations which have joined the initiative include Formula 1, La Liga, New York Yankees, Sky Sports and the All England Lawn Tennis Club (Wimbledon).
SGC will join these other participants in committing to a set of five agreed principles and incorporating them into their club strategy, policies, and procedures, as well as communicating them to their wider sporting community within Singapore and other golf clubs around the world.
The initiative will also provide sports organisations with a forum where they will have the opportunity to pursue climate action in a consistent and supportive manner by learning from one another, disseminating good practices, lessons learned, developing new tools, and collaborating on areas of mutual interest.
SGC general manager and director of agronomy Andrew Johnston said: “Becoming the first ever golf club to join the UN’s Sports for Climate Action Initiative is a tremendous honour for everyone associated with Sentosa Golf Club.
“We have already taken great strides with our sustainability programme in the last two years and are therefore extremely excited to be joining this initiative.
“We believe it is the right step for us as a club to continue on our journey to tackle climate change throughout the world and the game of golf.”
Since launching its #KeepItGreen campaign at the SMBC Singapore Open in January 2018, SGC has implemented numerous environmental features such as the creation of their own bee colonies, using rechargeable lithium batteries in their golf carts, and banning single-use plastics from the golf course.
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Currently the World’s Best Golf Club (World Golf Awards), it has also installed electric vehicle charging sockets and built a sustainable herb garden.
At this January’s SMBC Singapore Open, the club unveiled a new global sustainability campaign Game On to unite the global golf community in addressing the growing concerns of climate change.
It aims to help golf clubs around the world to better prepare for climate change by introducing modern sustainability practices to reduce their own environmental footprint.
GEO Foundation founder and executive director Jonathan Smith said: “This announcement underlines the strength of Sentosa’s forward-looking commitment to sustainability and climate action.
“We congratulate them on taking this important and ambitious leadership step, and look forward to supporting that commitment with the purpose-built tools, analysis and recognition that we provide to golf.”
