Winning initiative to carbon label food at the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final tackles “climate change in a scalable and commercially viable way”.
My Emissions has been crowned the inaugural winner of the Champions Innovate Prize, 2024, scooping a €45k cash prize for its initiative to carbon label the food at the 2024 UEFA Champions League Final in London.
My Emissions’ carbon labelled 100s of dishes from major international caterer Delaware North at Wembley Stadium and more than 20 independent food trucks at a four-day Champions Festival.
Judges praised the project as tackling “climate change in a scalable and commercially viable way”.
Champions Innovate Challenge
Champions Innovate is a UEFA initiative which challenges commercial companies to solve “meaningful and relevant challenges identified by UEFA and the host city of the Champions League final.”
First launched in September 2023, various sustainability challenges were identified by its commercial partners, PepsiCo, Mastercard, and Just Eat Takeaway.com, as part of UEFA’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy for the 2024 final.
My Emissions was one of over 100 startups which applied – with just three projects taken forward to the final stage.
My Emissions: Sustainable Food Challenge
Working with Just Eat Takeaway.com, My Emissions took on the Sustainable Food Challenge, which asked for a solution: “to bring choice, joy and innovation to the food served around the final, while also creating healthy and sustainable options for fans?”
My Emissions’ solution was to:
> Carbon label all the concession menu boards at Wembley Stadium, in collaboration with stadium caterers, Delaware North using its easy-to-understand A-E rating system.
> Carbon label all independent food trucks at the four-day Champions Festival at major sites across London – Regents Street, Somerset House, Potters Field and Trafalgar Square.
> Produce an educational landing page hosted on Just Eat Takeaway.com to educate fans about the environmental impact of food – and give them an opportunity to win tickets to matches during next year’s Champions League.
> Additionally, food packaging at Wembley Stadium and the Champions Festival was provided by Earth Shot Prize winners, Notpla, using their zero-plastic packaging made from seaweed, and included a QR code linking to the Just Eat Takeaway.com landing page.
Green Energy Challenge
The two other finalist projects were a Kinetic dance floor from pioneering energy company Pavegan, who worked with PepsiCo’s energy drink brand, Rockstar to tackle the Green Energy challenge: how can fans help to generate enough electricity to power the Champions League final kick-off show and establish a sustainable model for power generation at future events?
Pavegan, which specialises in kinetic energy solutions that harness the power of footsteps to create sustainable energy, created a space from its energy-generating kinetic floor tiles. Those dancing on it powered a performance by British dance act Rudimental at the Champions League Festival in Trafalgar Square.
Fan Engagement Challenge
Pledgeball, meanwhile, worked with Mastercard on the Fan Engagement Challenge which asked startups: “how can we harness the power, passion and reach of football fans to create tangible, effective solutions for communities within the scope of fintech and digital fan engagement?”
Pledgeball’s solution was the Champions Innovate Pledge League – an online platform to harness the collective power of football fans who would pledge actionable steps towards addressing climate change.
‘Scalable and Commercially Viable’ Carbon Labelling
My Emissions were crowned the winners of the 2024 programme at a showcase event on 30th May hosted by Sky Sports News presenter David Garrido.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that My Emissions won the first ever Champions Innovate programme,” said My Emissions Co-Founder Matthew Isaacs.
“Partnering with UEFA and Just Eat for the Champions League Final gives us an incredible opportunity to showcase our carbon labelling solution on a global stage.”
“Through Champions Innovate, we’re bringing our solution to one of the largest sporting events in the world. We’re able to talk to fans about the carbon footprint of food on a scale that we’ve never achieved before and encourage consumers to make more conscious choices.”
My Emissions, founded in 2021, is the leading carbon assessment platform for the food industry helping companies reach their net-zero goals.
The London-based startup has raised a total of $2.4M in funding including an over-subscribed seed round which closed in April 2024.
Providing both Company Carbon Footprint and Product Carbon Footprint and labelling services, My Emissions uses an easy-to understand, traffic light- A-E rating system.
My Emissions clients include Just Eat Takeaway.com, AB World Foods, Meatless Farms, and Selfridges & Co. as well as major international caterers, NHS trusts, local government and world-famous universities.
Applications for the 2025 Champions Innovate in Munich are now open!
Want to Reduce Your Menu’s Emissions?
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Click here to book a demo or reach out to us via email at hello@myemissions.co.