Football's Coming Home... Sustainably!

As the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 came to a close on Sunday night (27 July), England's win against Spain was not the only thing worth celebrating, but the competition's remarkable success in sustainable mobility operations!

In close collaboration with key transport stakeholders, including:

• police authorities;
• the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB);
• the Federal Office for Transport (FOT);
• host cities; and
• local and regional transport providers,

UEFA's mobility team and the various Swiss authorities have delivered a transport experience that not only met expectations but set new standards for sustainable event logistics.

From the outset, UEFA's Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy for the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 placed sustainability mobility at the heart of tournament planning, aiming to reduce the tournament's impact on the environment as much as possible.

As part of the ESG strategy, UEFA aimed to reduce the environmental impact by focusing on three key areas:

• climate action (CA);
• sustainable infrastructure (SI); and
• the circular economy (CE).

Key goals listed in the environmental strategy included:

• free public transport for ticket holders (CA);
• plan the match schedule in the group stage to reduce team travel (CA);
• ensure that electricity from a renewable source is used in stadiums (SI);
• optimise water usage in tournament facilities (SI);
• ensure that products have no or limited packaging (CE);
• recover energy from non-recyclable waste (CE);
• raising awareness of the environmental aspects of the tournament through media activities (CA).

As a result, up to and including the semi-finals, more than 620,000 fans attended matches across the eight host cities, and a significant majority chose environmentally responsible ways to get there:

• more than 414,000 spectators, representing nearly two-thirds of all attendees, used public transport to reach the stadiums;
• over 120,000 fans opted for active transport modes such as walking and cycling;
• official fan walks drew 95,000 participants, creating vibrant fan experiences with minimal environmental impact.

On average, 66% of ticket holders used public transport to get to the 30 matches, with that figure rising to 86% when combined with walking or cycling. 

These achievements were supported by the deployment of over 400 bespoke additional Women's EURO trains, made possible through UEFA's partnership with SBB, host cities and federal authorities. The KombiTicket initiative, which bundled match tickets with public transport access, proved to be a cornerstone of this success.

Meanwhile, the number of private vehicles and taxis remained relatively low, which provided further evidence of the shift toward sustainable transport modes.

The quarter-finals alone demonstrated the strength of this strategy, with 89% of supporters taking a sustainable transport mode to matches, the highest of the tournament so far. This was driven by strong fan walk participation and a continued preference for public and active transport.

UEFA's commitment to sustainability builds on the legacy of UEFA EURO 2024 in Germany, where climate-conscious operations and inclusive fan experiences laid the groundwork for future tournaments.

UEFA Women's EURO 2025 has now taken that vision further, providing that with the right planning, partnerships and purpose, major sporting events can be both world-class and environmentally responsible.

For more information on this subject, see:

• UEFA Women's EURO Switzerland 2025 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategy.