Few things unite us quite like watching a sporting event alongside fellow adrenaline enthusiasts as our team marches on to victory, or loses in epic fashion. Sports have the power to simultaneously inspire us and excite us, and also to fill us with crippling anxiety. But most importantly, as we see it: professional sports are cultural connection events that have the power to impact social and environmental change. 

Last week, the 2023 Green Sports Alliance Summit brought together, as emcee Kunal Merchant—Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Revitate—put it: “the jocks and the nerds” from across sports and entertainment to explore innovative climate solutions, share best practices, and collaborate—yes, even amongst rival teams. And what better setting for these critical conversations than Seattle, Washington’s Climate Pledge Arena, the most sustainable arena in the world?

Other industry leaders—and Climate Pledge signatories—in attendance were Amazon, Pepsico, McKinstry, Seattle Kraken, and title sponsor Oak View Group. For those that couldn’t be there to experience the contagious athletics-for-the-earth energy in person, here’s a recap of two of our favorite sessions. You can check out the full agenda here.

Sports Ecosystem Must Address Environmental Justice: A Local Perspective
Panelists: Mari Horita, SVP, Social Impact and Government Relations, Seattle Kraken and Executive Director, One Roof Foundation. Maya Mendoza–Exstrom, Chief Operating Officer, Seattle Sounders FC. Paulina Lopez, Executive Director, Duwamish River Community Coalition. Facilitated by Susie Vincent, Director of Client Services, U.S. Green Building Council.

Between 400,000 and one million people in developing countries die from mismanaged waste. Paulina Lopez, Executive Director of the Duwamish River Community Coalition, has seen the impacts first hand. In her urban Seattle neighborhood life expectancy is thirteen years shorter than areas only five miles away. 

Mari Horita, SVP, Social Impact and Government Relations for the Seattle Kraken and Executive Director of the One Roof Foundation (the philanthropic arm of both the Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena, dedicated to providing the local community with safety, security, and shelter), who has worked closely with Lopez and her community for many years, encourages other business leaders to “step back, re-examine the way you’re doing things, and defer to the people who are closest to the issues.” 

Maya Mendoza–Exstrom, Chief Operating Officer for the Seattle Sounders FC, emphasizes that environmental justice initiatives need to be intentional, with investments aimed at impact. “We can’t show up in a community and just do the soccer thing. We can bring more to the table than soccer balls and programs.” Together, environmental justice and the community’s voice must be incorporated into everyone’s work in order to provide health equity to everyone, no matter where they’re born.

You Could Have Named It Anything
Panelists: Kaan Yalkin, Partnerships and Engagement Lead, The Climate Pledge, Amazon. Interviewed by Rob Johnson, SVP, Sustainability and Transportation, Seattle Kraken/Climate Pledge Arena.

Amazon launched its Climate Pledge with the goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement. After purchasing the naming rights to the former Key Arena, Amazon could have named the building after its company, like most other organizations do, but instead chose to bring awareness to a critical cause: decarbonizing the economy and subsequently named it after the Climate Pledge. Kaan Yalkin, Partnerships and Engagement Lead for The Climate Pledge at Amazon, noted that through Climate Pledge Arena, “we’ve proven that you can be entertained sustainably, and do it better [than less sustainable venues].” 

Yalkin also believes that Climate Pledge Arena gives concert-goers and sports lovers a degree of agency when it comes to creating a sustainable future. “When you come here you feel like you’re a part of the solution. You’re supporting a space that’s doing right by the planet.”

Sustainable Buildings – Net-Zero is the Hero
Presenters: Andrew Rhodes, Senior Program Manager, Sustainable Buildings, Amazon with Brianna Treat, Director of Sustainability, Climate Pledge Arena.

Complete with all-electric, high performance buildings systems, an innovative rain-to-rink system, preservation of its historic roof, and an International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Zero Carbon Certification in the works, Climate Pledge Arena’s net-zero carbon design principles are paving the way for future sustainable sports arenas.

Andrew Rhodes, a Senior Program Manager for Amazon’s Sustainable Buildings, gestured towards the Living Wall, a 1,700 square ft. display featuring 27 different plant species, and arguably the arena’s most Instagrammable spot. “There are many sustainable solutions that are visible and beautiful, but many more sustainable elements in these facilities are hiding in plain sight,” explained Rhodes. “When they are implemented creatively and effectively, they can benefit both the environment and the customer.”

Also pursuing the ILFI Certification for some of its brick-and-mortar buildings on the West coast, is Climate Pledge co-founder, Amazon. By using the arena’s net-zero carbon design principles to pilot the next generation of its buildings, Amazon is working to eliminate fossil fuels, support vehicle electrification, and use natural refrigerants, lower-carbon building materials, and renewable energy.