Juventus FC is the latest European soccer club to launch a new sustainability strategy. Due to increased government regulation and pressure from fans, (environmental) sustainability has become a mainstream topic in soccer. As the flag bearer for Italian soccer, and Serie A’s most successful club, Juventus aims to lead the way on sustainability.

The Turin giant unveiled its “Black, White, and More” strategy on December 17 ahead of the club’s 4-0 victory against Cagliari in the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa. The strategy’s title is an ode to the club’s traditional colors and conveys its desire to leave a stronger mark in this space.

A New Direction

The Black, White, and More strategy is a reconfiguration of Juventus’s approach to sustainability. Greta Bodino, the club’s Chief People, Culture, and Sustainability Officer, calls the new strategy a “turning point” for Juventus. She hopes it will show supporters a sense of transparency and that the club “feels the responsibility of what it is doing.”

The 90-plus page document is broken into six pillars, two environmental, three social, and one governance. The strategy redefines the club’s ESG guidelines and harmonizes them with the ESG demands of Serie A, UEFA, and FIFA. Other objectives include aligning the club with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and meeting increasing fan expectations.

Counter to, or perhaps as a backlash to, soccer’s governing bodies’ revenue-at-all-costs approach, fans are increasingly seeking authentic commitments to social and environmental sustainability from their clubs. In a 2024 Deloitte study of Italian soccer fans, 75% of respondents aged 15 to 24 and 70% of those aged 25 to 34 said they would be willing to stop supporting their club

The writing is on the wall for clubs that refuse to take sustainability seriously: they risk losing their fanbase, and if climate change continues unabated, their existence. However, clubs like Juventus have a unique position in society. They have the capacity to motivate millions of people. Bodino wants Juventus “to be a club that inspires fans and communities.”

Activating Fans

Juventus boasts roughly 180 million followers on digital platforms, plus many thousands of fans who live and breathe black and white but have no digital presence. The club is increasingly looking to integrate its fans into its sustainability journey and lead them by example.

As Bodino explained to me before the strategy launch, “fans are everything” for Juventus and the club is looking to shift from a “desire” mantra to one that inspires fans to “act.” The club is leading by example by consistently reducing waste, improving its energy efficiency, and using its newly launched Creator Lab to deliver videos and campaigns that tackle major issues like racism and mental health.

The Creator Lab doubles as a space where players and fans can interact directly, and an outlet for the club to show its social responsibility efforts to its fanbase. It combines digital marketing, fan engagement, and sustainability, and could help galvanize fans into action.

A Sustainability Legacy

Despite being nicknamed “the Old Lady,” Juventus has kept up with the times. The 36-time Serie A winner has been doing sustainability reporting for over a decade — though it has reported its carbon footprint only since 2019 — long before ESG was a popular term or the EU implemented the mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

Since the 2018-19 season, 100% of the electricity Juventus purchases has come from renewable sources. The club is also implementing LED lighting to increase energy efficiency at the stadium and training complex, and it is focused on improving circularity by minimizing waste through its 4Rs Approach; “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover.”

Juventus also has a strong history of social responsibility. The club’s latest example of this can be seen on the front of its jersey. Juve’s front-of-shirt sponsor is the well-known NGO Save the Children. It partners with the non-profit to improve education in the local community. According to Bodino, Juventus has an educational hub a mere 300 meters from its stadium where the club offers teaching to kids from underprivileged backgrounds. The treat for most children is when players from the men’s or women’s teams go to visit them.

Embedding Sustainability at Juve

Without buy-in from senior leadership, even the best of plans cannot be properly implemented. According to Bodino, Juventus has full commitment from its executives on its sustainability mission. The club has had a C-suite level ESG Committee in place since 2021. The Chairman, the CEO, and three other directors sit on the committee. All ESG directives, including the new strategy, have to be approved by the committee and then the board of directors, and direct responsibility for ESG planning and implementation falls in Bodino’s lap.

Under her watch, the club launched an ESG steering committee as well. The three-person committee is up and running this season, but Bodino is not done embedding sustainability into Juventus’s personnel. She hopes to launch an “ESG People Committee,” that will offer workers a voice in the changes the club will implement. She says she will know her vision has become a reality when “people can feel that they can raise their voice, participate, and actually do things.”

All Juve staff also have an ESG KPI linked to their profile. Every step that they take and every action that they make count towards their short-term sustainability objective. Bodino hopes that this helps show and improve employees’ commitment to sustainability.

Scope 1, 2, and 3 Emissions

Last season, 2023-24, Juventus’s combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions were 6,166,920 CO2 e tons. That’s down from 6,328,510 CO2 e tons the previous season. The majority of the club’s Scope 1 emissions come from methane, while its Scope 2 emissions stem from district heating.

The club is yet to measure its Scope 3 emissions, although Bodino says they will be doing that for the first time this season, in line with the EU’s CSRD regulation. Juventus had prepared to measure Scope 3 emissions several years ago, but those plans were delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

For Bodino, getting the baseline emissions is “huge.” She expects a substantial spike in the club’s emissions numbers, noting that their partners at the University of Sant’Anna tell them 70% of emissions come from fan mobility. After establishing the club’s baseline Scope 3 emissions, Bodino will look at defined KPIs to reduce the club’s emissions over the coming seasons. Juventus will use fan surveys to assess how fans move to and from matches.

Moving Forward

Despite Juventus’s decade-plus work on sustainability and its enhanced strategy, plenty of work remains. In the 2024 Global Sustainability Benchmark in Sports report, which measures sports organizations based on their sustainability across four pillars, Juventus’s overall score was 71%; the top organization scored 85%.

Juventus received strong corporate, social, and governance marks, but fell well short on the environmental pillar, scoring just 53%. That was well below some of its European compatriots like Borussia Dortmund (72%) and Atlético de Madrid (66%). However, the Italian giant performed far better than its Milanese rivals. A.C. Milan scored a lowly 22% on environmental sustainability, while Inter Milan barely cracked double digits at 10%.

In the 2022-23 Serie A Sustainability Index conducted by Enovation Consulting, Juventus was classified as one of the “pioneers” of sustainability in Serie A alongside A.S. Roma, and Udinese Calcio. These clubs were deemed to be the ones demonstrating the best sustainability practices in Italy.

Juventus remains at the forefront of sustainability in Italian soccer, but Italian soccer is well behind Germany, which implemented mandatory sustainability requirements for licensure several seasons ago, and England, where fan expectations around sustainability are much higher.

When asked if Juventus will achieve its goal of halving its emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2040, Bodino could only say “I hope so.” She notes that her answer is not for lack of commitment, it is just a realistic assessment of where the club is right now.