I hail from Essex, England but these days you’ll mainly find me in Barcelona, Spain. Having studied History at uni (sorry, “college”), I then went to work for Hewlett Packard before upping sticks and teaching English in Spain. I’d always wanted to work in climate action but honestly didn’t know how I could be helpful. It was something for the scientists, right? So then I started studying a Sports Management Master’s at ESEI Barcelona where I realised there was a space for me to combine my two passions.
First, let’s air the dirty laundry. Who are your teams?
It’s probably easier to list the sports I don’t love as I watch everything from basketball to boxing, cycling to rugby. But my one true love has and always will be Liverpool FC and I must say I’m very proud of their approach to sustainability and climate change. Not least the way in which they’ve engaged and leveraged both new and existing sponsors to achieve their goals.
Which of the UN sustainable development goals inspire you?
What first struck me about the SDGs in a sporting context was how much great work is done by sports organisations with regards to social inclusion, equality and community well-being. The ideals of sport - especially team sports - mean it is easy to instill social sustainability and goodwill in the many stakeholders of the industry. From grassroots to elite sport, local tournaments to global competitions, the parallels between sport and inclusion is evident.
However, there is a comparable lack of work being done when it comes to sport and climate action. Whilst the situation has and is improving every passing month, there remains a fantastic opportunity for sport - something that transcends politics, religions, nationalities and ideologies - to become the biggest driver of climate action.
A scientist, I am not. Far from it. But I, like many others, feel a desperate need to do something to address climate change.
Sport and climate action is quite niche (but growing!!) which means you get to speak to most people involved. When Kristen and I first met it was a case of two sport and climate action geeks getting excited about what could be... And now I’m here as Tom from Recipric. Happy days!
Who is “Tom from recipric'“?
At Recipric, I’ll be helping sports properties - clubs, competitions, athletes - become more sustainable by aligning and leveraging sponsorships from sustainable brands. Of course the inverse is also true: we’ll help sustainable brands develop and activate sponsorships with sports organisations. Kristen and I saw the expansion into sustainable partnerships as the logical next step of Recipric’s existing sustainability strategy services.
Sustainable Partnerships for me are the true viable answer to clubs’ ambitions to do more for the planet. The mentality among many sporting organisations has often been that becoming sustainable costs money. There are a number of ways to demonstrate that in fact sustainability as a whole is the answer to the financial burdens of tomorrow, but sustainable partnerships are the answer to the financial burdens of today. When done properly, everybody wins.
It’s a bit corny (I used to work in sales, forgive me) but I’ll measure my success in the success of our clients in becoming more environmentally sustainable. This is a job, yes, but I’m aware of Recipric’s place within the overall sport and climate action movement. I hope to contribute to it to the best of my ability.