TSG Hoffenheim football club has played continuously in the German Bundesliga since 2008 and employs a workforce of 302. This includes 135 full-time and part-time employees, 69 in the pro squad, the U23s and U19s, and 98 temporary staff. The club’s head office is located in Zuzenhausen and the teams play at the PreZero Arena in neighbouring Sinsheim. The TSG has been a supporter of the Development and Climate Alliance since December 2018. The club has engaged in carbon accounting in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol since 2019. TSG has been climate neutral since the 2019/2020 season.
In 2019, TSG Hoffenheim offset 3,187 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. Alongside the club’s own emissions, this figure also includes emissions as a result of the visiting team and the referee travelling to/from the pitch on match days. When selecting projects in accordance with the Gold Standard, TSG focuses on the region of sub-Saharan Africa and primarily supports afforestation projects.
Broad-impact Commitment
Being a Bundesliga football club means having the power and the communication channels to reach a large audience. A good example of this is the club’s ‘Climate ticket’: when you buy a ticket at TSG Hoffenheim, you can choose to contribute to afforestation in Uganda by choosing to pay for saplings to be planted at a cost to you of 1 Euro a tree. This doesn’t just make fans more aware. Commitment to climate action also triggers considerable interest from sponsors, employees, the media, the public, politicians, NGOs and the Bundesliga itself and creates recognition across all groups.
The Kikonda Forest project is based in East Africa. The project covers an area greater than 10,000 football fields and offers over 600 people a basic livelihood. Further afforestation in the vicinity of the project is promoted through training and provision of plants for families in the area. Approximately 200,000 additional trees are planted as a consequence of this. The local population benefits from the newly created jobs, but also from the support for medical care and local schools provided by the project organiser. This large area of the Kikonda Forest Reserve has been exempted from management and placed under protection as a nature reserve – which helps to preserve biodiversity.
The club has engaged in carbon accounting under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol since 2019. Since the 2019/2020 season, the TSG football team’s matches have been completely climate neutral. The club offsets all unavoidable emissions via a WWF Gold Standard project.
Dr. Peter Görlich
Managing Director at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim
Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH
Photo credits: TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Fußball-Spielbetriebs GmbH, imagexphoto, myclimate, Fairtrade/Anand Parmar, FORLIANCE
Foundation Development and Climate Alliance
Chausseestraße 22
D-10115 Berlin
Phone: +49 30 3465573-00
Email: info@allianz-entwicklung-klima.de
