Three innovative start-ups presented their sustainable solutions aimed at leaving a positive impact on the UEFA Champions League final during a showcase event at London City Hall. After months of development, the Champions Innovate finalist start-ups – Pavegen, My Emissions, and Pledgeball – demonstrated their pilot projects to a judging panel just days before the 2024 UEFA Champions League final.
Champions Innovate was an initiative that brought together UEFA, commercial partners, the host city, and start-up companies in the months leading up to the men's Champions League final. Each season, the start-ups were tasked with finding innovative solutions to specific challenges set by the host city.
For the 2024 final at Wembley Stadium, the Greater London Authority proposed three challenges aimed at enhancing the competition's social and environmental impact. Three start-ups – Pavegen, My Emissions, and Pledgeball – were chosen to develop pilot projects responding to these challenges, each partnered with a Champions League sponsor: Rockstar Energy Drink (PepsiCo), Just Eat and Mastercard.
Pledgeball, partnered with Mastercard, focused on tackling climate change through collective action. They developed the Champions Innovate Pledge League, an online platform that engaged football fans to pledge actionable steps towards addressing climate change in the context of the UEFA Champions League Final. Katie Cross, Pledgeball founder and CEO, emphasised the importance of individual actions in combating climate change.
My Emissions, in collaboration with Just Eat conducted carbon assessments and labelling of food menus at the Champions Festival food trucks, concession points, and hospitality areas at Wembley Stadium. This initiative aimed to deliver sustainable food choices for football fans. Matthew Isaacs, My Emissions co-founder, highlighted the significant impact of small dietary changes on energy consumption.
Pavegen, teamed up with Rockstar Energy Drink (PepsiCo), introduced an energy-generating kinetic dance floor at the Champions League Festival in Trafalgar Square. This interactive feature allowed attendees to generate energy to power the microphone and DJ booth at the Friday Night Show. Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen CEO and founder, described the importance of innovation in challenging the status quo.
The judging panel, including Laura Citron, Nicole Valentinuzzi, and Andrea Traverso, assessed the projects based on innovation, collaboration, impact, and scalability. Ultimately, My Emissions was selected as the inaugural Champions Innovate winner, receiving €45,000 to further develop their project. Despite My Emissions' win, all three finalists will continue their projects, showcasing the success of the Champions Innovate initiative.
Following the success of the 2024 UEFA Champions League final Champions Innovate campaign, the initiative will continue for the 2025 final in Munich, with a focus on physical activity. UEFA remains committed to using football to address global sustainability issues, with Champions Innovate complementing their broader efforts to identify innovative, sustainability-focused solutions within the football ecosystem, in alignment with their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategy.
The UEFA Champions Festival, a four-day family-friendly event featuring football-related entertainment, live music, giveaways, and sponsor activations, took place in central London from 30 May to 2 June. Held at five locations across the city, the festival included various UEFA social and environmental sustainability programmes and sponsor activations, such as wheelchair football and blind football demonstrations with UEFA Champions League legends Cafu and Kaká.s across the city, the festival included various UEFA social and environmental sustainability programmes and sponsor activations, such as wheelchair football and blind football demonstrations with UEFA Champions League legends Cafu and Kaká.
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