Football for the Goals

The Opportunity

Football has long been a carrier of culture across nations. It is, in fact, considered the world’s most popular sport, with over 3.5 billion fans.

In Norway, volunteering largely drives football forward, providing an early arena for good upbringing, and a sense of belonging that continues into adulthood. An estimated two million Norwegians view football as an important part of their everyday life.

With this impact comes a considerable amount of responsibility. Resources, social conditions, climate and environmental aspects must be handled with great care in order to keep the sport alive, and to preserve life in general.

Consequently, the two top divisions of Norwegian football jointly set a goal to make football more sustainable from the year of 2023. That led to Norway becoming the piloting country for the United Nations’ first sustainability project within football, called “Football For the Goals” (FFTG). This process is led by ÆRA.

Norway as a Thought Leader

FFTG works to change awareness, behavior and the practice of football at a professional level, based on the United Nation’s (UN) 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs).

These efforts are meant to trickle down on the non-professional teams, including the grass roots of football, across demography and geography, and further onto other football nations.

The pilot runs with a global ambition, meaning Norway, together with the UN and UEFA, aims to be a thought leader for all entities connected to football. It also heavily relies on trust.

Designing FFTG initiative as an initiative means football organizations can sign up to be part of the program voluntarily, thereby committing to:

• Understanding and talking about the SDGs and the importance of sustainable change to their stakeholders, fanbase and wider following
• Making sustainable change within

In order to make these commitments actionable, the initiative facilitates for communication and hands on engagement. Convenings are regularly held, where members together with sustainability experts from the UN and the Norwegian pilot can exchange knowledge and get guidance.

The Result

FFTG is now primarily an initiative in the hands of the UN and FIFA globally, and its development strongly influenced by the Norwegian pilot’s tests, trials and wins.

Among other things, we were able to create an entirely new commercial model for the Norwegian football divisions, based on the established GRI and ESG frameworks. The model allows for football to receive sponsorships, and the sponsors in return acquire sustainability measures that are transferable to their respective sustainability reports.

Since launching in july 2022, FFTG has seen over 243 members from 79 countries sign up to FFTG, ranging from international confederations to national associations to semi-professional and amateur clubs.

What we provided

• Strategy for sustainable growth
• ESG transformation
• Concept development
• Future business models