Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) today revealed a plan for Birmingham 2022 that includes employing reduction strategies, team member training, and supporting Canadian carbon offset projects.

"These proactive steps will reduce and offset Team Canada’s carbon footprint at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which is estimated to be between 750 thousand and 900 thousand tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions," Scott Stevenson, the CSC’s executive director for Birmingham 2022, said.

"This demonstrates Commonwealth Sport Canada is committed to climate action and reducing emissions."

The programme includes employing reduction measures where available, including holding conferences and video calls rather than in-person meetings to limit travel-related gas emissions.

It also involves using e-documents as the source of communication instead of paper documents.

Staying in low-energy and low-water hotels will help Canada reduce its footprint, as well as limiting packaging on all supplies and equipment ordered or shipped to Birmingham, it is claimed.

The CSC is also encouraging its athletes and mission staff in Birmingham to walk, run or cycle to get to meetings and venues whenever possible.

In addition, CSC has introduced an online training resource to educate Canada’s athletes, coaches, officials and mission staff on awareness and engagement in environmentally friendly efforts and actions.

Madeleine Orr, co-director of the Sport Ecology Group and lead consultant for the CSC carbon neutral effort, will offer each member of Canada’s team at Birmingham 2022 training digitally.

"These 90-minute sessions occur leading up to the 2022 Commonwealth Games and suit all athletes and their varied training schedules," Orr, a sport ecologist based in the Institute of Sport Business at Loughborough University London, said.

"The sessions will be purpose-made and will be delivered to specific sports and additional stakeholders, such as coaches, mission staff and volunteers."

CSC will also invest in high-quality carbon offset projects based in Canada to combat team emissions leading up to and during the Games and remove the equivalent volume of these gases from the atmosphere.

Birmingham 2022 has claimed it will be the most environmentally sustainable Commonwealth Games in history and be the first to be carbon-neutral.

The English city is implementing a number of measures, including accessible water bottle refill points, minimising single-use plastic, renting instead of buying equipment, and ensuring assets can be repurposed and reused in the future.

Another way Birmingham 2022 wants to reduce their carbon footprint is by promoting low emission travel options, including shifting away from single-occupancy vehicles and encouraging active travel such as cycling and walking.