The UK’s Motor Sport Association (MSA) has taken a particularly proactive approach to the issues of climate change by promoting the highly experienced John Symes to the role of Technical Director with a specific remit for environmental issues.
Symes is implementing an all-encompassing audit of UK motor sport to look into the environmental impact of various events and ways of reducing it. Such is the importance of this audit and study that the MSA has not set a limit on the cost of this work and will be engaging experienced consultants and specialist companies to assist with the process.
The MSA has also introduced environmentally-focussed technical regulations across many disciplines of the sport, requiring, for instance, the mandatory fitment of catalytic converters in all competition cars from 2009.
Under the chairmanship of FIA World Motor Sport Council representative Graham Stoker, the MSA has also established a dedicated working group to enable a considered approach to the environmental issues presenting themselves within the sport. The working group reports to the MSA Council and will guide and inform future regulations to encourage best practice throughout the sport.
In addition, the final round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB, has been awarded CarbonNeutral® event status, confirming that the event’s carbon footprint is now ‘net zero’. Wales Rally GB has positioned itself at the forefront of a more sustainable future for motor sport by becoming the first round of the championship to offset its carbon emissions, including all spectator travel, through a combination of internal reductions and external offsetting.
The UK’s leading motor racing series, the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship, has also taken a world lead by becoming the first motor racing series to introduce a maximum limit on CO2 emissions for its race cars.
Graham Stoker, Chairman of the MSA Council, said: “The MSA is taking the environmental issue extremely seriously. We must take the initiative and lead from the front to ensure that legislators and pressure groups do not have the opportunity to destabilise the sport. Motor sport is unique in that we can really make a tangible difference to the challenges that the world is facing in terms of climate change.”
These are just a few examples of the many en-vironmental initiatives instigated by FIA clubs. With over 120 clubs around the world, these projects are only set to grow in number as the FIA membership ensures that motor sport remains a positive force in an eco-focussed world.
