The Smart Energy Cup: cutting winter sports’ environmental impact piste by piste.

Interview conducted by Anna Jonsson, New Weather Sweden & the Save Our Snow campaign.

A ski competition cutting its emissions with almost a third per active skier, does that exist? Yes, this is what The Smart Energy in Sweden has achieved – and now the Swedish Ski Association want to share the experience with other sport organisations.

The Smart Energy Cup is a national elite tournament in cross country skiing in Sweden, arranged by the Swedish Ski Association, which aims to be a platform for ambitious climate action. The goal is to reduce emissions by ten per cent per year.

So far, the Smart Energy Cup has cut emissions by 27 per cent for every active participant from the start in 2021. And the total emissions have decreased by 9 percent, while the numbers of participating skiers have increased.

Anna Jonsson, of New Weather Sweden and the Save Our Snow campaign got the chance to talk to Ulrika Sterner from the Swedish Ski Association, to find the secrets behind its success and how it all began:

“We started off the Smart Energy Cup since we felt the need for winter sports to get heard and raise its voice about climate, and to initiate dialogue and discussion within the skiing community. We also want our partners to contribute actively.”

Early in the process Björn Sandström, the elite skier and climate consultant, was involved in developing a way to measure the emissions from the tournament. Thanks to the system he evolved, it is standard for every team involved to account for all the travel and other carbon heavy activities related to participation in the tournament.

A lot of work has been done to diminish emissions from travel, since these are a major part of the emissions from the event. This has been done through encouraging carpooling, adapting the calendar to make it possible to go by train as well as actively promoting it. As a result, at the competition in Sollefteå, the emissions per active skier were cut by 31 per cent.

“We still have some work to do to normalize train travel, but we have taken important steps. Now many clubs know for sure that it works fine to travel by train and are starting to encourage others to do the same – saying it is easy and a good way to strengthen the unity in the team”, says Ulrika Sterner.

As part of the Smart Energy Cup there is also competition among the clubs to cut emissions – Klimatkampen (The Climate Struggle) - and each year a winner is elected. Until now two clubs have won: Offerdals SK and IFK Mora SK.  

“The cup has definitely made us discuss the climate issue more in the club. One of our success factors is probably that we have improved to gather the squad and traveling together and living closer to the stadium so that we can walk during the competition,” says Emma Lindberg, one of the skiers in IFK Mora. 

“As part of the concept we are having a constant dialogue with active skiers and others involved in the cup, in this way there are also ideas evolving that we would never have had otherwise, that come from beneath in the organization, which is a great value”, says Ulrika Sterner. 

Another big win with the Smart Energy Cup is the great feeling of rallying around something beyond the competition: a common good.

“Now the conversations in the bus or the train are not only about what kind of skis that are the quickest, but also about the climate impacts on the sport we love, and what we can do together to use sport as a way to get our voices heard”, concludes Ulrika Sterner.

And for those clubs and organisations that want to start off with climate engagement Ulrika has some clear advice: “Eat the elephant piece by piece and dig where you stand. Start measuring your climate emissions and use sport to raise your voice.”