Green Sport Awards nominees announced

The BBC Green Sport Awards return to highlight the people and organisations who are determined to make a real difference to sustainability in sport.

The 2025 event takes place at the BBC's Broadcasting House on Monday, 6 October, with awards presented to those committed to change to make sport contribute to a better world.

The nominees are...

Athlete of the year

Fran Kirby

Brighton and England footballer Fran Kirby teamed up with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) earlier this year to create a Prescription for Nature - sharing how nature has boosted her mental wellbeing.

A European Championship winner in 2022, the 32-year-old has chosen to use her enhanced profile and following on social media to speak up on issues of climate change, focusing on the positive impacts nature can have on us all.

"When I'm out in nature it's about calming me down. It's about being able to refocus, shift my mindset and reset," she said.

Hannah Mills

The two-time Olympic sailing gold medallist has been a leading voice on sustainability issues throughout her career.

As she was preparing for the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she supported the Challenge 6,000 campaign, which attempted to remove 6,000 pieces of litter from the sea.

This year, the 37-year-old spearheaded an open letter before the International Olympic Committee's presidential elections in March that encouraged bold climate leadership. It was signed by more than 450 athletes.

Hector Pardoe

An Olympic open-water swimmer, Pardoe often encounters first-hand polluted waters, which he says have caused him and his team-mates to become unwell on numerous occasions.

Pardoe, 24, has regularly used his platform on social medial to post about issues around water quality, and describes himself as a plant-based athlete.

This summer he completed a world first - taking part in the Three Lakes Challenge for Clean Water, he became the first person in history to swim Britain's three largest lakes back to back in under 24 hours. He did so to bring about more awareness of water pollution and raise funds for Surfers Against Sewage.

Global champion

Hector Bellerin

Former Arsenal footballer Hector Bellerin is one of the highest-profile footballers to use their significant platform and voice to talk about sustainability.

Now a Real Betis player, the 30-year-old has taken a leadership role as the chief ambassador for Forever Green - his club's non-profit sustainability programme.

Bellerin's passion for sustainability has also seeped through into his clothes. Last year, he released his own clothing brand, which works with deadstock materials to reduce waste.

He previously set up an initiative to plant 3,000 trees in the Amazon for every win his team achieved during his time at Arsenal, and has spoken critically about the plans Fifa - football's world governing body - has for the 2030 World Cup.

Earlier this year, Bellerin was named in National Geographic's 33 for 2025 list, and became an ambassador for Green Football's Great Save campaign.

Jessie Diggins

The most successful American cross-country skier of all time, Jessie Diggins has won three medals at the Olympics and seven at World Championships.

In April 2025, Diggins and her American team-mates wore special-edition ski suits at the World Championships that depicted a melting ice cap as a way of speaking up about global warming.

The 34-year-old has devoted her platform on social media to raising awareness about climate change, with consistent public speaking through interviews and media appearances, discussing the effects global warming has on snow sports.

Sebastian Vettel

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel continues to carve out a new legacy for himself away from the racetrack.

Since retiring, Vettel has taken on many projects - big and small.

In 2023, he launched a bee sanctuary at the Suzuka F1 circuit in Japan - a symbolic project that combines his racing career with his passion for the environment. That first bee sanctuary has now expanded to a bee meadow in his native Germany.

During the 2022 season, he stopped travelling to grands prix by plane, instead choosing to drive to as many of the circuits as he could to avoid taking internal European flights.

In the past 12 months, the 38-year-old has particularly focused his attention on what is happening within the Amazon rainforest - one of the most endangered ecosystems on the planet.

While in Brazil, he visited the Kayapo people - an indigenous tribe who live in, and depend, on the Amazon. By highlighting this, Vettel is bringing many new eyes to the devastating effects of deforestation.

Sofie Junge Pedersen

Danish footballer Sofie Junge Pedersenhas become well known for environmental activism throughout her career, and last year was named by the Guardian as its footballer of the year for her work in this area.

When playing for Inter Milan, she persuaded the team to not fly to matches in the 18 months she was there.

The 33-year-old's commitment to environmentalism is long-standing.

In 2023, she led a group of 44 players to offset their flights to the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. And over the past 12 months, she has continued to call upon European football's governing body Uefa to mandate clubs to take trains instead of planes where possible.

Pioneer

Arsenal

Arsenal were the first Premier League club to sign up for the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and are aiming to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

All of their sites - including Emirates Stadium - are powered using renewable energy. Their 3mw mega battery enables them to avoid relying on the grid during peak times and to store clean energy for use on matchdays. They have also significantly reduced matchday single-use plastics and are entering into their sixth season of using only reusable cups at the stadium.

They have also introduced a water recycling system at their training ground, which can supply up to 20 million litres of water a year.

In May, they trialled a code for their supporters to claim a discount on their rail travel to an away match in Liverpool. They have also been planting trees in the UK and at the Arsenal forest in Kenya - to offset the carbon emissions of travel for the team and supporters.

Formula E

Formula E has been net zero since day one of its first season in 2014. It was the first motorsport to be recognised for sustainable event management and the first to join the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.

The Gen 3 Race car is fully recyclable, being built out of carbon fibre and natural rubber.

In January, Formula E introduced a new feature at select races throughout the season called pit boost - an electric vehicle recharging technology that delivers a 10% energy increase via a 30-second, 600kW charge in the pit lane - advancements made for the track that could benefit everyday electric vehicles around the world for widespread consumer use.

Jog On

In 2009, Tony Piedade set up Jogging Buddy - a free platform to help people buddy up for a run or walk - but in 2020 he became concerned that in facilitating others to get out running, the knock-on effect could be more trainers reaching landfill.

Jog On distributes usable shoes to schools, charities and organisations in the UK, Africa and South America. Piedade told the Guardian: "Trainers that can't be reused go through a certified process to keep them out of landfill, and are incinerated to create electricity."

In July 2025, the organisation celebrated a milestone as it announced 40 million tonnes of shoes had avoided landfill since it started its campaign.

With the support of the Outdoor Industries Association, Jog On is now looking to extend its remit to walking boots and shoes.

Sport England

In 2024, Sport England launched its first environmental sustainability strategy - Every Move - which required all of its 130 partners, including national sport governing bodies, to have robust sustainability plans in place by March 2027 as a condition of funding.

This summer, Sport England went even further - allocating £16m from its Movement Fund exclusively to support green sport initiatives. Community sports clubs and physical activity groups aiming to boost their green credentials are encouraged to apply for grants ranging from £300 to £15,000.

London Marathon

The London Marathon has long led the way on sustainability issues, introducing many initiatives to raceday itself to offset the impact of 50,000 runners and more than a million supporters crowding into London for the race.

A new initiative at the 2025 London Marathon was a pilot scheme to collect 1,000 litres of urine for use as fertiliser. In partnership with female urinal company Peequal and fertiliser specialist NPK Recovery, litres of urine were processed into fertiliser for crops instead of entering the sewage system.