Global Recognition: European Tour Sustainability Awards Expand In 2025 Khaleej Times

What began as a regional initiative in 2024 is going global in 2025, as the European Tour Group Sustainability Awards make their highly anticipated return in November.

The Awards, created to celebrate suppliers pioneering sustainable practices across the DP World Tour, HotelPlanner Tour, Legends Tour and G4D Tour, will now recognise winners from three regions: Europe, the Middle East, and the Rest of the World.

Entries are open until 2nd October 2025, with five categories available: Venues, Staging, Operations, Tech & Innovation, and Catering. To qualify, projects must have been delivered between 1st September 2024 and 1st October 2025.

A panel of experts from tournament operations and golf sustainability, including representatives from the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation, will judge the entries.

Winners will be announced on 12th November during a hybrid ceremony at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where the Race to Dubai champion will also be crowned.

The Awards form part of the European Tour Group's Green Drive sustainability programme, which commits to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero carbon by 2040.

Huge team effort

Maria Grandinetti-Milton, Director of Sustainability at the European Tour Group, said:“Delivering a golf tournament is a huge team effort, involving a wide network of trusted suppliers. Finding ways to reduce resource use, waste, and emissions requires our full supply chain to play its part and join us on this journey.

"These Awards are a chance to further stimulate this spirit of innovation, share best practice and celebrate progress. We focused on the Middle East region in our first year, and the really positive feedback means we have decided to make the Awards truly global for 2025,” she added.

“Alongside my fellow judges, I'm excited to see a broad range of sector-leading sustainability initiatives submitted.”

Jonathan Smith, Executive Director of the GEO Sustainable Golf Foundation, added:“It is great to see a major sports organisation like the European Tour Group lean so heavily into sustainability across so many strands of operations, championships, partnerships and wider reach and influence.

“These Awards highlight how suppliers are at the heart of making events more sustainable, and also how events can be demonstration sites for a wide range of innovation and new technology, that in turn can contribute to wider sustainable cities and communities.”

Emirates Golf Club, operated by Dubai Golf, claimed the Venues Award at the inaugural 2024 Awards. Honoured for its strong commitment to sustainable practices and pioneering environmental initiatives, the accolade highlighted the Club's role in setting a benchmark for golf and the wider community.

Winners of the other categories were:

Catering Award : Liquid of Life – awarded for eco-conscious beverage dispensers that eliminated single-use plastic bottles.

Event Staging Award : Wicked – for its sustainable Earth Lounge, built from reusable materials and powered entirely by solar and hydrogen energy.

Event Operations Award: Aggreko – acknowledged for introducing biofuel solutions to reduce emissions from temporary power units.

Innovations & Activations Award (Joint Winners):

Averda – for composting technology that diverted 35 tonnes of waste from landfills.

Flow – for creating hybrid solar and hydrogen power solutions for event use.

These awards were in the Middle East region only for 2024.

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