Championing sustainability at the 2025 UEFA club finals
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
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We continue to lead by example in embedding sustainability across our flagship competitions.
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Building on the momentum of 2024, this season UEFA will implement a record 315 sustainability activities across our four club competition finals.
Each initiative is embedded within tailored environment, social and governance (ESG) strategies, ensuring a holistic and accountable approach to sustainability. This approach, outlined in the UEFA Football Sustainability Strategy 2030, aims to continuously raise the bar for sustainability in UEFA's club finals – from planning to delivery.
Continuing our commitments
This year, we have maintained and expanded our core event sustainability activities:
• Carbon footprint measurement and reduction, with continued use of the UEFA Carbon Footprint Calculator to explore mitigation strategies.
• Dedicated climate fund for use by the host national associations to fund projects that will support climate action and offset unavoidable event-related emissions.
• Sustainable catering practices across all venues, with the support of UEFA's healthy and sustainable catering guidelines.
• Online abuse monitoring, in alignment with our ongoing efforts to combat online abuse. Robust monitoring mechanisms will be in place at all finals to ensure a safe and respectful online environment for all players, coaches, match officials and fans.
• Disability access officers, responsible for stadium accessibility. They are supported by dedicated volunteer teams and in direct contact with the finalists, ensuring a barrier-free experience for spectators with limited mobility.
• Audio-descriptive commentary for blind and partially sighted supporters, accessible all over the world through the official competition apps. The service is provided in the local language and native language of the competing teams.
• Showcasing football matches of UEFA’s partner organisations, such as the International Blind Sports Federation, the Homeless World Cup or Special Olympics, at fan festivals. This promotes inclusion and community engagement, highlighting that football is for people of all abilities.
New in 2025
This year, several impactful innovations will be introduced:
• Carbon emissions labelling of menu options at stadium kiosks and compostable food packaging, in collaboration with UEFA’s partner Just Eat Takeaway. Carbon emissions labelling allows spectators to make more informed food choices, while the compostable food packaging allows for a lower event carbon footprint.
• A formal human rights declaration is signed by relevant stakeholders at all events, highlighting the commitment of both UEFA and our partners to ensuring a safe environment for everybody.
• Child and Youth Protection Policy, with appointed safeguarding focal points, ensuring the safety of children and young people, such as ball kids or mascots accompanying players onto the pitch, at each event.
• A reporting mechanism for human rights violations for staff working at the event, in collaboration with an independent law firm.
• Sensory rooms at three of the four club final venues. Sensory rooms at football stadiums are designed to provide a calm, safe and inclusive environment for people who may find the typical matchday atmosphere overwhelming.
Event-specific highlights
• Free public transport for ticket holders. Match ticket holders can travel on the MVV (Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund) public transport network for free on matchday, from 00:00 on 31 May to 06:00 on 1 June. This includes travel on all S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram and bus services within the M-6 zone and S-Bahn services from Munich Airport (MUC) to the city centre (zone 5). Simply show your mobile ticket to inspection staff if requested.
• Hosted in a stadium certified under the EU’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). In 2006, Allianz Arena received EMAS certification, since then continuously improving its environmental performance through ongoing review, planning and implementation of concrete measures.
• A rapid response mechanism for discrimination, providing a structured and immediate process for identifying, reporting and addressing incidents of discrimination, abuse or inappropriate behaviour during a match. These mechanisms are part of broader efforts to ensure safe, inclusive and respectful environments for all fans.
• Human rights risk assessment conducted to identify potential risks, highlight opportunities to use the event to promote specific human rights topics and ensure the assessment builds on existing commitments, strategies and plans by UEFA and the host city teams.
• Builds on the sustainability blueprint for the 2024 UEFA Women’s Champions League final, adopted at Bilbao's San Mamés Stadium last year.
• Hosted in Europe's first stadium with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, with renewable electricity generated on-site.
• UNHCR Spain at the fan festival. UEFA invited the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to the Europa League in Bilbao, promoting the integration of refugees and offering them new opportunities in collaboration with the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
• Free public transport within the host city. Take advantage of free travel on all buses and trams in Wrocław – available to all UEFA Conference League final ticket holders on matchday from 06:00 on 28 May to 06:00 on 29 May. KD trains are not included. Simply show your match ticket in the UEFA Mobile Tickets app to travel inspection staff if requested.
• Rainwater collection and distribution system implemented at the stadium.
• Sustainable grass disposal by transforming the grass into energy consumables for other industries.
• First-time use of a sensory room at the Estádio José Alvalade.
• Upcycling of signage in partnership with a local supplier, which will transform used equipment into new products to be sold locally.
• Food waste donation through a local organisation that will salvage food which would otherwise not be consumed and use it to feed people from the local community.