ATP and Infosys have unlocked a brand new section in tennis’ sustainability journey with the launch of Carbon Tracker, a first-of-its-kind app enabling gamers to trace and mitigate journey emissions on Tour.

With lots of {of professional} gamers travelling to greater than 250 occasions in 50 nations throughout the ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour every season, journey represents a big a part of gamers’ general carbon emissions. Addressing this influence has turn out to be the highest sustainability precedence underneath ATP Serves, in keeping with ATP’s dedication to UN Sports activities for Local weather Motion.

“This initiative means loads for tennis as a result of tennis is fortunately one of many largest [and] one of the fashionable sports activities on this planet. However in the identical method, additionally most likely one of many sports activities with essentially the most touring, with essentially the most flown miles,” Dominic Thiem stated. “So it is tremendous essential for tennis to step up and take the primary steps in direction of a greater future.”

Developed in collaboration with Infosys, Digital Innovation accomplice of the ATP Tour, Carbon Tracker is a first-of-its form app in skilled sports activities. It permits gamers to trace their journey to tournaments throughout the season, perceive their emissions profile, make extra acutely aware journey choices, and mitigate their influence by buying verified carbon credit by Gold Commonplace, a number one sustainable improvement customary and local weather motion accomplice of the ATP.

The Carbon Tracker app’s long-term ambition is to encourage greener journey on Tour. It incorporates a dashboard that presents gamers with a holistic view of their emissions throughout a number of seasons – enabling deeper understanding and evaluation of journey selections. That is supplemented with sources and quizzes to teach gamers on sustainable practices and environmental advocacy.

Thiem, Cameron Norrie, Andrey Rublev and Emil Ruusuvuori have kicked off proceedings by pledging to trace and mitigate 100 per cent of their match journey emissions in 2023.

Rublev stated: “As a tennis participant, I’ve to journey loads, particularly there are a whole lot of flights per yr [over a] lengthy distance, totally different continents. So the Carbon Tracker app is an ideal first step.”

There are greater than 2,900 Gold Commonplace-certified tasks in additional than 100 nations all over the world. These tasks embrace supporting the planting of biodiverse forests in Panama to bettering cookstoves in Peru and Uganda.

Over time, the licensed tasks have produced greater than $36 billion in worth supporting local weather motion and sustainability progress.

“I’ve heard a whole lot of great things about Gold Commonplace,” Ruusuvuori stated. “They’ve nice tasks all all over the world, like India, Peru, Ethiopia. And I am actually trying ahead to exploring all of the attainable methods to assist.” 

The Finnish star added: “Ninety per cent of tennis’ emissions come from touring, so we all know what the issue is. However regardless that the issue is massive, and it is going to take loads to make a distinction, we all know that we are able to. In order that’s why we began this factor.”

Thiem defined why he feels a duty as an athlete to not solely help the trigger, however inspire his colleagues to do the identical.

“It is tremendous essential that athletes, particularly from a giant international fashionable sport like tennis, converse up as a result of they’ve a giant fanbase,” Thiem stated. “They will encourage lots of people and on this method they’ll have fairly a giant a part of serving to to save lots of the planet.”

Rublev expanded on why he feels the identical method: “It is essential to make use of this platform in the appropriate technique to transfer in the identical course. If you should utilize your platform and also you attempt to do one thing with local weather and a few folks hearken to you, and so they additionally begin to see this manner, perhaps their associates [will] additionally hearken to them.

“There are a lot of people who find themselves doing good issues and so they do not have a voice and so they’re doing so many good issues. And athletes, they’ve this energy so, for them, it’s a lot simpler to do these issues. And that is why they need to do it.”

Though journey is an unavoidable a part of skilled tennis, Norrie stated he feels a duty to take motion and present local weather management.

“That is one thing near my coronary heart and it’s been unbelievable to see this motion acquire momentum in tennis,” Norrie stated. “Carbon Tracker is a superb first step to onboard extra gamers, mitigate our influence, and hold this essential dialog high of thoughts. I’m excited to see the place this leads.”

The High 3 gamers on the in-app Carbon Tracker leaderboard on the finish of the 2023 season will likely be eligible to win a $100,000 prize pool. This will likely be distributed within the type of donations to environmental sustainability charities of gamers’ selection.

Carbon Tracker will likely be accessible solely by PlayerZone, the prevailing participant web site and cellular app launched by Infosys and ATP in 2016.

ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli stated: “Tennis is on a mission to Web Zero and like many sports activities, our journey footprint is our largest problem. ATP’s new Carbon Tracker makes it easy for gamers to affix that journey, mitigating their influence in the present day and galvanizing greener selections tomorrow. It is a story of addressing tough issues by innovation, and we might thank our companions Infosys for his or her collaboration and dedication to the undertaking. The potential of this app is very large and we’re simply getting began.”

Infosys Chief Advertising and marketing Officer Sumit Virmani stated, “The synergy between Infosys and ATP has resulted in a really action-oriented innovation which sensitizes the necessity for power transition in sports activities. In latest instances, we’ve got witnessed a large number of digital sustainability platforms which might be enabling organizations pave their technique to internet zero emissions. Along with ATP, we’ll try to make tennis carbon acutely aware as a sport. As we drive in direction of a hyperconnected financial system, it’s crucial for us to give attention to dynamically driving carbon consciousness in an revolutionary, sustainable, and environment friendly method.”

Margaret Kim, Gold Commonplace CEO Margaret Kim stated: “It’s inspiring to see tennis main the best way in direction of a extra sustainable sporting tradition. Encouraging gamers to buy Gold Commonplace-certified credit means they are going to be instantly funding local weather change tasks that not solely scale back carbon emissions, but additionally create many different sustainable improvement advantages for communities that want it most. We’re excited to have ATP as a Gold Commonplace local weather motion supporter and sit up for collaborating additional alongside the journey in direction of internet zero.”