Sustainable Golf Tournaments Certification Criteria

Transcription

1 Registered in Scotland Sustainable Golf Tournaments Certification Criteria New Standard Scope Document GEO Certified - Tournaments Draft: 2 Approval Date: Amended Dates:17 October 2017 Implementation Date: Official Language: English [In case of inconsistency between translated versions, reference shall default to the official language version]

2 FOCUS OF STANDARD Golf Environment Organization (GEO) is putting forward a proposed international voluntary sustainability standard (VSS) outlining various environmental and social criteria for golf tournaments. The standard will ensure that golf tournaments can be certified against a consistent set of criteria spanning the activities of hosting and staging a spectator-attended golf tournament. These activities are organised under six sections, which mirror the six sections of a voluntary sustainability standard for sporting events produced by the Council for Responsible Sport 1. As temporarily-staged events, golf tournaments have the potential to leave behind a significant environmental footprint. While golf tournaments are commonly recognised for positive social contributions to charities and local economic impact, engaging local stakeholder needs can present challenges and inconveniences that are not always taken into appropriate consideration. The primary focus of the VSS is to reduce the environmental impact of hosting a golf tournament, and to ensure that impact on local communities is net positive. Establishing a baseline of sustainable best practices will do the following: 1) Set an industry benchmark; 2) Encourage continual improvement; 3) Address specific challenges to golf tournament operations; 4) Communicate results transparently, credibly, and widely through an industry-recognized ecolabel. Beyond mitigating environmental impacts, widely attended golf tournaments present a tremendous opportunity for positive social influence. Therefore, the second focus of the VSS is to outline criteria that further prompts tournament organisers to utilise the global influence of golf as an instrument for positive change. The VSS is intended to be applied by tournament organisers, contractors, and other key stakeholders involved in the planning and staging activities of hosting a golf tournament. BACKGROUND TO APPROACH Since 2010, GEO has provided sustainability support and advisory services to the European Tour, R&A, Ryder Cup Europe, as well as other golf federations and stand-alone golf tournaments. GEO has field-tested a tournament support programme, which has strengthened internal knowledge and experience regarding the key sustainability challenges pertaining to golf tournaments. Below is a summary outlining a few examples of support and advisory services GEO has provided to the golf industry throughout the early phases of establishing the Tournament Standard: Ø Assisted in tracking and measuring the carbon footprint for the 2015 Open Championship, 2016 RBC Heritage, and 6 tournaments across the European Tour Green Drive programme 1 Council for Responsible Sport - A non-profit organization based in Oregon, U.S.A. that provides independent verifications for sporting events 1

3 Ø Provided advisory and planning support to the European Tour, R&A, and RBC Heritage in establishing a sustainability programme Ø Provided communications support for the public launch of The Open Championship s Greenlinks programme Ø Performed on-site appraisals for the Ricoh Women s British Open and Italian Open Ø Released a Sustainability Review detailing carbon impacts of the 2016 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing These key experiences combined with other support and advisory services provided over the past several years has enabled GEO to acquire a range of lessons and perspective to incorporate into the VSS for golf tournaments. PURPOSE A VSS for golf tournaments supports the primary purpose of GEO s mission within golf advance the sustainable golf movement in line with GEO s Theory of Change. Specifically, the VSS will support four key outcomes: 1. Establish an industry benchmark 2. Encourage continuous improvement 3. Address challenges specific to the scope of impacts that pertain to staging a golf tournament 4. Enable impacts to be measured credibly and communicated transparently First, as golf tournaments are planned and staged, criteria will provide guidance and clarity for staging teams interested in exploring sustainable best practices. An industry benchmark will assist tournament organisers in understanding the boundaries of impacts that should be addressed. Criteria and detailed performance requirements will provide a clear list of the how to that has been determined by a consensus of industry professionals through this stakeholder consultation process. Secondly, a performance-based VSS that is structured in a flexible manner encourages continuous improvement. Transparent results from other industry professionals will enable tournaments to understand how the industry benchmark is evolving. This is accomplished by thirdly - addressing challenges specific to the scope of impacts that pertain to staging a golf tournament. Fourth, golf is a widely popular and participated in sport. The VSS for golf tournaments accompanies a wider system of impacts tracing already taking place through new golf course developments and existing golf facility management. Tracing sustainability impacts across golf s 2

4 three essential areas will enable outcomes to be measured credibly and communicated transparently. Finally, this popularity accompanies tremendous influence within social systems and behaviour. Large spectator-attended golf tournaments provide an opportune stage to demonstrate and educate populations on the importance of environmental stewardship and social equity. Prior to showcasing such agendas, initiatives, and impacts, it is imperative that a baseline of criteria in line with industry expectations is met to ensure sincerity. An industry-designed and adopted standard is a very effective way to ensure that sincere efforts precede attempts to positively influence through widely visible initiatives. SCOPE SIZE OF TOURNAMENT The VSS promotes participation across a wide range of golf tournaments, hosted across golf s various tours, governing bodies and federations. Below is a breakdown of golf tournaments according to size: High Attendance (Daily attendance exceeding 15,000 people): International golf tournaments such as the Ryder Cup, Olympics, Presidents Cup, and other highly attended golf tournaments. Many PGA Tour and European Tour events would fall within this category. The level of attendance at these golf tournaments has the the potential to lead to significant environmental and social impacts. Medium Attendance (Daily attendance 5,000 15,000 people): Events hosted by the world s major tours that attract fairly high spectator attendance. However, the level of attendance is not likely to produce the same level of strain on local systems as high attendance events. Low Attendance (Daily attendance 500-5,000 people): Events hosted by tour bodies or golf federations that involve spectators, but result in low level impacts on local systems. Club Tournaments ( < 500 spectators ): Local community events, club outings - any tournaments with virtually no spectators - fall outside the scope of this standard. GEO Sustainable Tournaments Programme and Standard Criteria will be made publicly accessible to the entire golf community, and clubs are encouraged to access the programme and accompanying materials to support club goals and ambitions. GEOGRAPHICAL REGION The VSS does not restrict involvement based on geographical region. The scope of impacts covered in the criteria and detailed performance requirements is applicable in all regions. As the VSS evolves, and participation increases, criteria and performance requirements will be adapted to ensure criteria remains aligned with different geographically-based factors. Regionalised versions may need to be considered moving forward to address geographically-based factors. 3

5 GOLF COURSE IMPACTS Golf Course impacts (irrigation, fertiliser and pesticide use, etc.) fall under the scope of the host venue. A separate VSS for golf facilities exists within GEO s suite of sustainability standards. Host venues will be expected to achieve GEO Certified for Golf Facility Management in order to achieve certain credits available within the VSS for tournaments. TECHNICAL CONTENT Compliance with the Golf Tournament Standard covers essential areas that fall in line with the scope outlined above. Content is organised within golf s sustainability agenda (Nature, Resources, Community), across 6 sections characterising a sustainable tournament (Planning & Communications, Site Protection, Procurement, Resource Management, Access & Equity, Community Legacy). The Resource Management section includes 3 sub-sections: Waste, Water, and Energy & Carbon Management. Please refer to the GEO Tournament Standard to view technical content as well as more specific information regarding VSS structure. Below is a summary outline of the structure: Golf s Sustainability Agenda Nature Resources Community Sections Planning & Communications Site Protection Procurement Resource Management Access & Equity Community Legacy Waste Sub-Sections Water Energy & Carbon Management SCORING METHODOLOGY 4

6 A credits-based scoring methodology allocates credits to each criteria point, weighted according to level of difficulty, importance, and level of achievement. The scoring methodology helps link performance and achievement to measurable outcomes. PROCESS OF CERTIFICATION The certification process is governed by GEO Certification Ltd., a separate subsidiary of Golf Environment Organisation. GEO Certification Ltd. oversees the assurance system for the Golf Tournament Standard. Council for Responsible Sport (the Council) will conduct independent, 3 rd party verifications on behalf of GEO Certification Ltd. GEO has collaborated with the Council through all drafts and revisions of the Golf Tournament Standard to ensure standards equivalence exists. The outline of sections and sub-sections, as well as many criteria points achieve continuity with the Council for Responsible Sport Standard v4.2. This consistency will enable the Council to apply their established verification process to the Golf Tournament Standard. Specific certification requirements are likely to vary based on spectator attendance and whether the tournament is hosted at a fixed or rotational venue. A separate document on the certification process will be drafted and can be referred to in due course. JUSTIFICATION OF NEED The Tournament Certification establishes a clear set of criteria and detailed performance requirement. Industry-defined performance criteria and requirements via an international VSS supports the golf industry with three essential needs. First, the VSS enables the golf industry to define baseline performance and understand what must be done to achieve it. Secondly, impacts monitoring and evaluation will promote transparent reporting, thereby also promoting inclusivity across diverse stakeholder groups. Thirdly, achievement against an industry-recognized standard opens up opportunities for tournaments to communicate credibly about their sustainability initiatives an important incentive for driving participation and motivating continuous improvement. ESTABLISHING A BASELINE A performance-based 2 VSS that achieves consensus and buy-in across industry professionals is essential for understanding where the mark is. When sustainability is a vaguely defined concept, or defined in an unintelligible way, it is inaccessible to industry professionals. When the requirements for pursuing sustainability are management-system based and place signification implications on the management team from the onset, sustainability is inaccessible to industry professionals. Designing a performance-based VSS, that evolves fluidly in time based on participation and reported impacts, provides clarity and concreteness regarding the objectives that must be pursued. A performance-based VSS also promotes participation by not presenting any major barriers to 5

7 entry, and offers a much needed flexibility to industry professionals to evaluate the requirements through the perspective of their individual circumstances. GOLF S SUSTAINABILITY SYSTEM The VSS for tournaments is the final of three VSS within GEO s standard-setting system. A suite of VSS for golf that includes: New Developments, Facility Management, and Tournaments sets the golf industry up to be able to monitor and evaluate impacts across golf s three essential areas. This lifecycle approach ensures that the scope of golf s impacts is not too narrowly defined; thereby leaving out substantial impacts that fall under the purview of golf s control. Without a system structured specifically for the industry that includes these essential areas, the golf industry will lack the support resources and incentives to voluntarily track sustainability impacts. Finally, a primary need for the golf industry is positive communications. Golf has often been viewed as having a negative impact on the environment. Consequently, many of golf s positive achievements have not been recognised. Achieving certification through a VSS will enable golf tournaments to credibly communicate sustainability results. This incentive will be key in driving participation, and tracking and report golf s sustainability impacts. SIMILAR STANDARDS There are multiple sustainability certifications, schemes and BMP guidelines for events worldwide, but none address the complexities and specificities of the golf industry. The needs analysis was conducted in consultation with a number of organisations and interested parties in the golf industry, including the R&A and European Tour two reputable golf bodies, each of which operate global golf tournaments. GEO Tournament Certification focuses specifically on sustainability areas pertaining to the planning, staging, and teardown of golf tournaments. Research and analysis for existing, comparable standards and criteria was performed to justify the need for an additional standard. The results are summarized. ISO20121 A management system standard to assist events in improving event related operations. It is an extension of BS 8901 to accommodate the need for an international version leading up to the 2012 London Olympics. The standard is intended to be about the management system the process used to establish policies and objectives and not the event itself. It does not contain specific performance requirements, but it does provide avenues towards achieving certification. The standard is available for purchase online. Golf is in need of an international standard that addresses the specific complexities pertaining to a golf event. The standard should capitalize on its specificity and precision to create performance-based targets in order to most effectively advance golf s sustainability impacts. The standard should be widely accessible at no cost to the industry. CRS v4.2 Certification Standards 6

8 A standard of criteria designed to evaluate and certify against sustainability impacts of sporting events, specifically. The standard is applicable to small and large sporting events and includes events such as outdoor races, major spectator-attended sporting events, and non-traditional sporting events. The standard offers guidance towards triple bottom line based staging operations and evaluates against outcomes and performances. The criteria are specific to sporting events, but not golf particularly. The key sections in this standard are consistent with the key impact areas of golf tournaments. GEO and Council for Responsible Sport have partnered in an exercise of Standard equivalence aimed at understanding the overlap between the two VSS, and where there should be modification to address the specific needs of a golf tournament. GEO and Council for Responsible Sport will continue to collaborate throughout the entire standard-setting process, and moving forward. Global Reporting Initiative A set of reporting guidelines ensuring consistent, comprehensive sustainability reporting. According to the Global Reporting Initiative, the reporting guidelines are intended to help organisations prepare sustainability reports that follow robust and purposeful sustainability reporting standard practice. The reporting framework made available by GRI does not satisfy the needed guidance and clarity for major sporting events striving to implement sustainability into planning and operations. Reporting guidelines provide a generic set of management approaches on anti-corruption, ethics, governance, supply chains, and energy and GHG emissions. GRI is an international framework for consistent reporting. The GEO Sustainable Tournaments Standard requires that events achieving certification produce a sustainability report that is transparent and accessible to the public. Alignment with GRI principles is an important avenue to support highly credible reporting, and GEO will strive to support golf tournaments interested in achieving this level of reporting. Standards relating to sustainability in golf have also been developed but do not address the specific needs of a golf tournament. The Sustainable Golf Project, a benchmark approach designed off the ISO framework, provides a benchmark methodology for golf courses. However, due to its emphasis on golf course management, requirements are focused on a different area of management, such as turf maintenance and water stewardship. Additionally, the Sustainable Golf Project only benchmarks golf courses on sustainability in order to help them gain insight into how to improve, unlike the proposed certification that will be an international, audited standard; making it more robust and reliable. There are other programmes that focus solely on golf course management such as Eco-Sustainable Golf Course, produced by Eco Cert, E-Par, and a certification ran by Audubon International. However, the scope of these programmes do not include event-related issues. Relevant standard-setting organisations and standard-setting organisations with overlap in scope will be invited to provide input and consultation to the proposed VSS, as an act of both good 7

9 measure, and to achieve alignment with ISEAL s emerging criterion for Standards Equivalence work. GEO STANDARD SETTING PROCESS The development of the Sustainable Tournaments Criteria will follow GEO s Standard-Setting Procedures (ref: v3.1) compliant with ISEAL's Code of Standard Setting. GEO strives to create credible, robust standards through involving multiple stakeholder groups in both decision- making and two rounds of public consultation. Multi-stakeholder involvement ensures that the opinions of stakeholders outside the golf industry receive equitable representation. Representation aims to include a wide range of potentially interested groups albeit groups from a local or regional community, international NGOs with experience across the various impact principles, or organisations that contain experience with sustainability standards. The rigour of the VSS (Voluntary Sustainability Standard) must be balanced with accessibility in order to ensure that criteria encourages the participation of tournament organisers and event professionals with widely different goals, limitations, and external influences. Wide participation and commitment is critical for golf s international portfolio of tournaments to achieve continuously increasing, global positive impact. Standard setting is an iterative process with the process of reviewing and improving the standard continuously on a 5-year cycle to ensure criteria of the VSS keeps pace with the advancement of best practices within sports and event industries. 8

10 GEO STANDARD-SETTING PROCESS FLOW 9

11 EXPERT GROUP MEMBERS: The Expert Working Group has been assembled by GEO to provide a multi-stakeholder decisionmaking body for setting Sustainable Tournament Criteria. The aim is to create a balance of stakeholder groups that represent a range of technical, regional and issue-related expertise, to guide the criteria development process and content. The terms of reference guidelines for the Expert Group can be found in GEO Governance Bodies (ref. v3). A public consultation process inviting feedback and input from diverse groups, and open to all interested stakeholders, will begin in February At the completion of the public consultation process, GEO Advisory Council and Board of Directors will approve the standard prior to full adoption. Please see GEO Standard Setting Procedures for more information. CONSULTATION HOW TO CONTRIBUTE Parties interested in contributing during the consultation period may their comments to tournamentconsultation@golfenvironment.org. Comments submitted should include contact information for correspondence in relation to development of standard and comments submitted. Comments against the proposed criteria shall include proposed alternative solutions and if possible the scientific/academic basis for the proposed alternative. Parties interested in contributing during the consultation period may visit to download the consultation pack and their comments to tournamentconsulatation@golfenvironment.org. STAKEHOLDER MAPPING The consultation process will target a global selection of technical experts and industry professionals. Targeting will include, but not be limited to individuals and groups within sustainability, event management, and golf. Diversity of contribution is critical to ensuring that adequate representation is achieved across the wide spectrum of impacted parties. Environmental and human interest NGO s will be targeted and invited to provide consultation as a proactive strategy to empower voice to perspectives that may otherwise go unrepresented. Detailed in Appendix 2 is an overview of the stakeholder mapping of various potentially interested and effected groups that will be targeted along with the rationale and strategy for gaining access to their feedback and input. Members of the Expert Working Group will be encouraged to input into the stakeholder mapping process. 10

12 DECISION-MAKING PROCESS Once the first round of consultation is complete, feedback will be collated and discussed by the Expert Working Group. Decisions on individual criteria comments and amendments will be made by consensus of the Expert Working Group. Agreement will be sought through the consultation process for the proposed criteria as well as all proposed changes. Consensus for decision-making is defined as the absence of sustained opposition, unless otherwise stated. If consensus cannot be established for a particular item after two rounds of public consultation, the alternative decisionmaking process will be enacted in accordance with GEO Standard-Setting Procedures (v.3.1). Following adoption of the VSS, a synopsis of the consultation process, feedback on the criteria and an overview of the decision-making process shall be made available to all declared parties of interest. The VSS will be promptly and freely available on the GEO website, newsletters and through GEO's partners. At the completion of the consultation process, the proposed VSS will be submitted to the GEO Board of Directors for final approval. Full adoption is targeted for March The section below, 'Key Dates in the Consultation Process', provides further details on the proposed timeline. Once the proposed VSS has been fully adopted there is potential for the formation of national working groups to integrate national priorities as needed. KEY DATES IN THE CONSULTATION PROCESS Outline of anticipated key dates from drafting to approval and adoption: Drafting of Tournament Certification Criteria GEO technical staff October 2015 Internal consultation Golf Tournaments Expert Working Group April 2016 Open consultation first round Distribution to public and stakeholders October 2016 Close of first round consultation December 2016 Internal consultation GEO Expert Group and Advisory Council December 2016 Open consultation second round Re-distribution to public and stakeholders January 2017 Close of second round consultation February 11

13 2017 Internal consultation Expert Group February 2017 Approval Credibility Council and GEO Board of Directors February 2017 Anticipated adoption GEO March 2017 ASSESSMENT OF RISKS A short overview of the potential risks associated with implementing the criteria and ways to mitigate such risks: Risk of Implementation Strategies to Mitigate Risk Falsification or Inaccuracy of Data Require 3 rd party verification and limit the same 3 rd party to maximum of 3 verifications in a row for any one specific event. Ambiguity Around Performance Future development of clear national priorities and ongoing training and specific guidance to Verifiers. Ongoing creation of regional indicators whenever possible. Scoring system has been instituted to reduce ambiguity. Vague Standards and Misinterpretation Clarity and interpretation will be a key point of requested feedback during public consultation process. Guidance will accompany the VSS to provide further clarity and definition on specifics. Also, support and advisory services are provided through OnCourse Tournaments Programme. Verifier loses objectivity due to relationship with client. Key correspondence between Verifier and a tournament is cc d to GEO Cert. ltd. for impartiality assurance. Scoring methodology requires justification for score provided. In many cases, supporting documents also must be provided to prove criteria fulfilment 12

14 Criteria becoming a barrier to trade Criteria is voluntary and is written to be flexible enough to apply to range of scenarios. Overlap with existing standards Partnerships and collaboration sought with similar standard setting organisations. Equivalence work performed by GEO to ensure due diligence was achieved in avoiding unnecessary replication of standards. Collaboration with Council for Responsible Sport was conducted to ensure equivalence and avoid undesirable duplication. Adapted for use specifically in Europe and the U.S. Enquire with organizations and individuals outside of Europe and U.S. One working group member has experience promoting golf tournaments in Vietnam. Another working group member works with sporting events in Brazil. Bias review by Verifiers GEO Monitoring and Evaluation provides oversight mechanism to address impartiality and conflicts of interest. Interpreted as being cost prohibitive VSS is provided free of charge. Verifiers are provided a recommended cost range to avoid cost prohibiting participation. Cost is structured according to spectator attendance. Unintended consequences The public consultation will request stakeholders to note any intended or unintended consequences that they anticipate may occur. Working group will address all concerns and feedback, and respond with necessary revisions. 13

15 PROCESS OF CERTIFICATION Below are the six primary steps involved in the certification process. This process will undergo further deliberation throughout the public consultation process. Step 1 Tournament enrols in OnCourse Tournaments Programme. Step 2 GEO Certification Ltd. assigns Independent, 3 rd Party Verifier. Step 3 Tournament submits pre-tournament requirements. Step 4 Verifier performs 2 days of on-site verification (1 day during week of competition followed by 1 day monitoring post-tournament breakdown process). Step 5 Verifier completes post-event assessment and provides recommendation on certification to GEO Certification Ltd. Step 6 GEO Certification Ltd. issues decision on GEO Certified status. Independent Verifier Report is made publicly available through the GEO website. 14

16 APPENDIX 1: WORKING GROUP MEMBERS Name Title Organization Dr. Mervyn Jones Sustainable Procurement Specialist Sustainable Global Resources Ltd. Dr. Andrea Collins Lecturer, School of Geography and Planning Cardiff University Phil Russell Sustainability Leader The Open Championship, R&A Paul Dunstan Championship Director European Tour Ross Hallett Head of Golf Events IMG Ian McKee Founder EcoArenas Keith Peters Board Member, Retired Executive Director Council for Responsible Sport Michele Grossman Managing Principal Waste Management Sustainability Services Jed Moore Managing Director Performance 54 15

17 APPENDIX 2: STAKEHOLDER MAPPING Group Reason for Inclusion Communication Plan Tournament Directors The Tournament Director will most often be the individual responsible for applying VSS criteria into operations. Contact Tournament Directors GEO has worked with across diverse regions and various sizes of tournaments. Golf Industry R&A, European Tour etc. Other Sporting Event Experts Environmental/ Sustainability Organisations Professional Golfers & Caddies Golf industry professionals will be highly affected by implementation of the standard. Valuable contribution of experience and knowledge, highly relevant expertise. Practical experience with sustainability, conservation, resource management. Potential stakeholder in communicating initiatives. Direct communication with representatives who comment on standard criteria. Participate in Working Group. Direct communication with individuals who comment on standard criteria. Request contribution from leaders within sustainability and sports. Direct communication with individuals who comment on standard criteria. Participate in Working Group. Request player participation via sponsor contacts. Golf Course Managers Golf course managers of host venues will be expected to comply with performance criteria in order for tournaments to be eligible for specific credits. Contact GEO Certified venues that have hosted tournaments. Ecologists / Academics/ NGOs Experts in various disciplines included in the VSS and academic professionals play an essential role ensuring the technical content is sound. Direct communication with individuals who will comment on standard criteria. Request for comments on internet forums associated with the environment or golf, advertisement of the need for comments on the GEO website. Use of Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media forums. Participate in Working Group. Government Environment Agencies Environmental experts with knowledge of legislation and policy implementation Contact agencies through local federation contacts Sponsors Entity most visibly impacted, and often the strongest influence on the uptake in a sustainability programme sponsors of tournaments GEO is currently providing support and advisory services to. Local Business Owners Impacted by tourism and spectator-spend outside the gates of the tournament. Standard Criteria will be advertised on GEO website, online forums and mailings. Seek contacts in 1 or 2 local communities of tournaments GEO is currentlyl working with. Suppliers, Contractors, 16 One of the most operationally impacted stakeholder groups. This group must find Several suppliers of large golf events will be contacted to comment. Requests for comments on internet forums associated with the environment or golf, advertisement of the

18 Caterers standard to be clear and applicable. need for comments on the GEO website. Contact suppliers and contractors through tour and tournament contacts. Less Developed Golf Industries Developing countries may find the standard harder to reach due to financial constraints, local systems limitations, and other external factors. Direct communication with individuals who will comment on standard criteria. Requests for comments on internet forums associated with the environment or golf, advertisement of the need for comments on the GEO website. Include representative of tournament or tour in Working Group. 17