The tournament received ‘Carbon Neutral’ certificate from the United Nations for the third year in a row due to work carried out in partnership with ENGIE
Rio Open, the most important tennis tournament in South America and one of the main tennis events in Latin America, celebrates another achievement in its remarkable trajectory. The international ATP Tour event, which is going to the tenth edition in 2024, received for the third consecutive year the prestigious 'Carbon Neutral' certificate from the United Nations (UN).
This is the result of voluntary efforts to neutralize the climate impact of the tournament held this year, between the 18th and 26th of February, and offset CO2 emissions from both the event itself and the displacement of spectators, totaling around 60,000 people. per annum.
Over the three Rio Open’s past editions, the sustainable initiatives of the Rio Open Green platform have been effective, resulting in the offset of 2,970 tons of CO2e. This achievement materializes through carbon credits derived from the production of renewable energy by Jirau Energia, a hydroelectric power station whose shareholders are ENGIE (40%), Eletrosul (20%), Chesf (20%) and Mitsui (20%). ENGIE is a sponsor of the Rio Open.
"Receiving the UN carbon neutral certificate is comparable to a trophy for the Rio Open team. In the same way that tennis players strive on the court to win the tournament, we, off the court, dedicate a huge effort to ensure that the event also achieves success in terms of sustainability. Our efforts are not limited only to the organization's direct activities, but also include raising awareness among our audience, encouraging individual participation in this initiative. We are deeply satisfied with the partnership with ENGIE and aspire to become a national reference in sustainability", said Marcia Casz, general manager of Rio Open.
"On behalf of our purpose of acting to accelerate the energy transition, we included the decarbonization of Rio Open as one of our goals when sponsoring the event. In this way, we materialized our ambition and engaged the audience on the topic of energy transition", said Gil Maranhão Neto , Director of Communication and Corporate Social Responsibility at ENGIE.
Rio Open 2023 achieves 90% waste recycling
Following the commitment to sustainability, the event managed to recycle 90% of the waste produced during this year's edition, including organic waste destined for composting. In addition to neutralizing carbon emissions from the tournament and spectators, recycling represents a priority action in the sustainability pillar of the Rio Open Green platform. Only 10% of the event's total waste was sent to landfill, including the entire assembly and disassembly period, a fact considered an important milestone in the tournament's history.
The Rio Open's engagement in sustainable actions is a journey that begins before the start of the tournament, incorporating principles of circularity in waste management and investing in actions to achieve recycling targets. This process encompasses three phases: reduction, recycling and reuse. A concrete example is the provision of reusable cups in bars. Regarding recycling, measures are renewed to send organic waste for composting and other recyclable materials to licensed cooperatives. Additionally, all food and beverage suppliers adopt recyclable materials in their purchases.
The reuse of materials was also a focus of waste management at Rio Open. During the tournament, the strings from the rackets used in competitions were transformed into bracelets, available for purchase at the official store, La Boutique. The event organizers made an effort, providing tarpaulins to partner cooperatives, collecting bottle caps for future initiatives and redirecting balls and leftover uniforms for social projects.
