“No silver bullet” for decarbonizing Formula 1, says ESG boss

Formula 1 has committed to reaching net zero by 2030 and plans to achieve this by reducing its emissions by 50% compared to the 2018 base year, before offsetting the rest through carbon credits.

With the presence of 10 teams, thousands of workers, tons of equipment and powerful hybrid cars traveling around the world 24 weeks a year, that’s no small challenge.

The championship reported a carbon footprint of a whopping 256,551 tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2018 and said it had reduced this by 13% in the 2022 season.

The cars themselves are responsible for just 0.7% of emissions, with the largest impacts coming from road, air and sea logistics (45.0%) and team and staff travel (27.7%).

In recent years there has been a growing sustainability debate over whether Formula One should reduce the number of its events after the number of races rose from 16 in the 1980s and 90s to a record 24 last year.

But Ms Jones said the championship was “now really at the size it wants to be”.

Instead, she said the focus on sustainability was to show that “you can grow well” and that it is possible to significantly reduce the carbon footprint without reducing size.

“We never say there is a silver bullet,” she said. “Of course there can be massive contractions and the world has seen that with Covid, in terms of changing people’s activity.”

“We also saw post-Covid how, from a global perspective, as people reopened their doors, these emissions immediately rose again.

“So we’re really focused on what solutions and steps we take to reduce carbon emissions, rather than the principle that there’s a one-size-fits-all solution.”

Formula 1 has recently made efforts to rearrange the calendar in order to shorten the freight routes traveled. Japan was moved to April to align more closely with China, and Qatar comes in just behind Abu Dhabi.

As for whether Formula 1 might consider holding races in one region closer together to reduce the impact, it is understood there is no potential for midweek racing.

Ms Jones said: “The calendar is another area where we are always trying to make progress. You saw that in ’24 and ’25, but we know there is more work to be done and we will continue to have these conversations as we work to manage this effectively.”

Since the number of races is non-negotiable, Formula 1’s decarbonization strategy instead envisages a variety of solutions, such as: B. Investments in alternative fuels, working with event organizers to switch to renewable energy, adapting transport methods and finally carbon credits.

Offsetting emissions is considered an essential tool for addressing hard-to-discuss emissions, but remains controversial due to concerns about the viability of an effectively expanded market and fears that polluters could use credits instead of efforts to reduce emissions at the source.

Ms Jones said Formula 1’s plan was “first and foremost” to cut emissions as much as possible, adding that her personal aim was to exceed the current 50% target before looking at offsets turn to.

Formula 1 is “absolutely monitoring” the market and the latest science on offsets, but added that it is still “pretty immature”.

“Once we make our reductions, (we) will make an informed decision about what the current science is,” she said.

Elsewhere, a major challenge has been shifting a decades-old culture of siled competitors toward collaboration.

Mastery is not a hierarchy in which decisions are made at the top and passed down through the organization, but rather a web of relationships between stakeholders.

“When I first walked in I was like, ‘Wow, wait a minute, people don’t even want to talk to each other,'” she said.

“From my point of view, it’s really about how we bring all stakeholders to the table, because Formula 1’s sustainability strategy is not just about the four walls of Formula 1 management.

“We won’t be successful if we don’t have our teams, our partners, our logistics providers all on our side.”

After developing the strategy, part of Ms. Jones’ job is to work with each stakeholder group to create their implementation plans.

When a solution is developed, “teams race to get it out the fastest,” she laughed. She called the level of competition “fantastic,” adding that next will be the teams that share the best ideas and continue to push boundaries.

“That’s the genius of Formula 1, that it’s not about saying we have the perfect solution, because there’s no definition of perfect. What’s leading today is on the pitch tomorrow.”

“And even further, by sharing best practice, we want people to say: ‘Ah, if Formula 1 can do it, we can do it too’.”