What began as a thought-provoking moment at a sector conference is evolving into a full-scale organisational shift toward sustainability at Sport Canterbury.

The spark was lit at the 2023 Sport New Zealand Ihi Aotearoa Connections Conference, where a powerful keynote speech by then-Climate Change Commission Chair Rod Carr placed the environment front and centre for attendees.

Sport Canterbury Chief Executive, Julyan Falloon, says this became a turning point for the Regional Sports Trust (RST) and the catalyst for a strategic and values-driven sustainability journey.

“That led to a conversation with our Board Chair, Gerry Dwyer,” Falloon recalls. “No question: there was an appetite for change from the Board.”

Sport Canterbury’s first move was to get a clear understanding of its current carbon footprint. The RST explored partnerships with local firms and eventually engaged the Terra Nova Foundation through a professional development opportunity facilitated by the Rātā Foundation.

This workshop, attended by key staff, helped lay the foundations for practical climate action.

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“There were a couple of pieces of gold that came out of that workshop,” Falloon says. “First, the need to understand what your footprint is. Then, focus on small, incremental change.”

Through the Terra Nova Foundation connection, Sport Canterbury was introduced to the Cogo app, which links accounting software like Xero to calculate carbon emissions based on financial data. It quickly became clear that travel, specifically, the vehicle fleet's fuel usage, accounted for about 60-70 per cent of the RST’s emissions.

With travel emissions identified as the main contributor, the team acted swiftly. Diesel utes, once used for events no longer on the calendar, were phased out.

Then came the challenge: how to affordably transition to electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrids.

Enter ORIX, Sport Canterbury’s fleet provider, with an offer to reduce EV leasing costs. At the same time, the RST’s trusted dealership partner, Blackwells, offered an EV to meet all the key requirements for safety, size and cost.

Sport Canterbury has also partnered with Ōtautahi Christchurch-based Evnex to install safe charging infrastructure at staff homes, ensuring a smooth and efficient EV rollout. That link was made through electrical infrastructure firm Connetics, a long-standing RST partner whose own EV journey provided valuable insight.

Additionally, Sport Canterbury has implemented a policy to reimburse staff for electricity used to charge work vehicles, removing the need to rely on public charging stations.

Sport Canterbury’s first two EVs arrived recently, with three more on the way. Based on modelling, each EV could reduce the RST’s carbon footprint by about 2 tCO₂e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) per vehicle - a total of 10 tCO₂e across the five.

In the long term, Sport Canterbury is exploring a mix of fully electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles to suit different roles and needs, with the flexibility to continue evolving as technology advances.

Falloon says it’s exciting to back up Sport Canterbury’s values with action and inspire others to do the same.

“We're taking meaningful steps to address global warming, and we can demonstrate the impact of those actions.

“Hopefully, it shows some leadership to our sector to be able to navigate the same things we have, and we can share that insight.”

He says a combination of strong Board support, reliable data and timely partnerships made all the difference.

“Kudos to Sport NZ: They created the platform for change and convinced me we need to do something about this.”

By combining insight, innovation, and impact, Sport Canterbury has created a roadmap that others can follow - one kilometre and a carbon-saving decision at a time.

Article added: Tuesday, July 29, 2025