Carbon Happy World helps Desert Vipers become the world’s first fully carbon calculated cricket team.

July 2023

The Dubai based ‘Desert Vipers’ franchise is the first cricket team to fully measure and make public their carbon emissions footprint to promote sustainability and their groundbreaking plan aimed at elevating environmental responsibility within cricket.

At the launch event at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London on July 24th 2023, Desert Vipers publicly disclosed their carbon emissions data for season one of the ILT20. The total carbon emissions amounted to 570 tonnes, with travel accounting for 423 tonnes, goods and services including hotel and transportation in the UAE accounting for about 114 tonnes, and air conditioning coolant contributing to approximately 32 tonnes.

This data is achieved by undertaking a comprehensive Carbon-Calculation, this is an extensive carbon footprint audit facilitated and implemented by Carbon Happy World of their operations during season one of the ILT20. This process helps map out an organization’s activities contributing to carbon emissions. In the case of Desert Vipers, this meant all business activities, such as travel, accommodation, kit, merchandise, and even video calls.

Once the activities were mapped, they extended this assessment to Desert Viper’s supply chain. All the data collected from their suppliers were carefully checked, organized, and then fed into the Carbon Happy World Tracker, resulting in a comprehensive carbon profile for the Desert Vipers. This carbon footprint was further broken down into different scopes and categories, like utilities, travel, and goods & services.

Carbon Happy World MD Gary Adlen congratulated the Desert Vipers, “To be the only cricket club in the world to fully measure and publish its carbon footprint has to be commended. It takes courage and perseverance in being an early adoptor, to gather the data, speaking and explaining to suppliers and stakeholders alike the importance of undertaking such an exercise. 

Your bold steps towards reducing emissions and promoting sustainable practices demonstrates leadership and a genuine concern for the planet’s well being. We believe your actions will inspire other teams to follow suit and initiate the beginning of a greener, more sustainable future for cricket and the entire sports industry.”

Desert Vipers CEO Phil Oliver emphasised the urgency of addressing climate-related challenges in cricket, “We believe that climate change is an existential threat to our sport. At the Desert Vipers, we have made sustainability one of our core values and we have a responsibility to be role models both on and off the pitch. Our sustainability strategy started by commissioning Carbon Happy World to calculate the carbon emissions footprint produced by the team for our first season of ILT20. We look forward to working with them on our plans to reduce our emissions and so play our part in reducing the effects of climate change.”

“This carbon emission audit is just the beginning of our team’s commitment to reduce our ecological footprint,” said Phil Oliver. “We will maintain transparency in our efforts to cut emissions across all aspects of our operations, and we are investing in initiatives that leave a sustainable legacy for future generations of cricket fans and the sports industry.”

Desert Vipers, Head of Strategy Matt Bailey added, “The carbon calculation process carried out by Carbon Happy World has been a fascinating and eye opening project for me. It provided essential insights into the sources and reasons behind our carbon emissions. The work has already enabled productive engagement with our suppliers to minimise environmental impact throughout the Desert Vipers supply chain. It is important to understand what we look like and how we can do better. Our hope is that our transparency in this process may influence other rights holders in cricket to take similar actions.”

Gary Adlen finished by looking to the future and what can be done for the coming season and beyond, 

“Desert Vipers have committed to a five year 50% reduction plan and what we will do in the years ahead is monitor activity to keep them on track and accountable, help them put the reduction plans in place and maintain their compliance with the UN Sports for Climate Action framework, reporting through the Carbon Happy World tracker. It is also very important to be transparent and be able to share this information to inspire and ensure other organisations understand what the Desert Vipers have done and to learn from that to build a community that is focused on adopting these behaviours to help the planet.”