With the official signing of the Sustainable Championships Charter by the Volvo China Open organising committee and the European Tour Group, the national open of China will enter a new stage in the field of sustainable development and fully embark on the upgraded path of green actions.
The European Tour Group is committed to hosting more sustainable and responsible golf championships that respect the environment and contribute to community development. This is a core component of the Group's overall sustainable development strategy - under the overall framework of Golf for Good, it is implemented through specific initiatives such as Green Drive.
In recent years, the European Tour Group has worked closely with numerous partners and suppliers to achieve this goal in its owned or hosted championships, including top-tier events such as the Rolex Series and the Ryder Cup. The Sustainable Championship Charter aims to further attract, guide and connect all golf events within the European Tour Group system, including the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour and the Staysure Legends Tour, that are concerned with and actively practicing sustainability, to build an industry-wide sustainable development ecosystem.
The Charter supports fledgling events as well as those seeking further advancement. The best practice grading summarized therein is applicable to championships at various stages of development. By applying the best practices outlined in the Charter, the Volvo China Open will be enhanced in the following areas: reducing resource usage, waste and emissions; protecting and improving the natural environment; increasing efficiency and boosting the pride of employees and volunteers; actively engaging partners, sponsors, suppliers and spectators; and generating positive publicity and additional recognition.
The Volvo China Open Organizing Committee has been exploring the feasibility of sustainable event management since 2019 and fully implemented it in 2021. After the event resumed its joint certification with the DP World Tour in 2024, it began to follow the guidance of the European Tour Group's "Green Action" plan. In 2025, the event moved from Shenzhen to Shanghai and continued to comprehensively promote the "Green Action" plan of the European Tour Group, achieving remarkable results in multiple aspects such as waste sorting, material recycling, green travel, paperless operations, plastic reduction, fairness and inclusiveness, and local wealth creation.
Take the Volvo China Open in 2025 as an example:
Reducing plastic usage: Bluewater provided a total of 160,000 liters of safe drinking water during the event, effectively avoiding the one-time consumption of 320,000 500-milliliter plastic bottles.
Promoting paperless operations: The event completely eliminated the use of paper programs, promotional brochures, and daily scorecards. Spectators could obtain information by scanning a QR code to follow the event's WeChat official account, saving approximately 50,000 sheets of paper.
Encouraging green travel: Spectators were encouraged to use public transportation to reach the venue. During the event, 8 Nordic pure electric luxury MPVs, Volvo EM90, were introduced as commuting vehicles, reducing the mileage of fuel vehicles by 9,744 kilometers in total.
Promoting diversity and inclusiveness: A "Little Journalist Group" (32 people) was organised for primary and secondary school students in Shanghai, a "Jiading Sunshine Home Spectator Group" (40 people) for people with disabilities, and a "Golf Study Tour" (87 people) for the general public. Additionally, "teaching + explanation" in-depth experiences were provided for zero-baseline guests of sponsors (410 people), covering a total of 569 people.
Boosting the local economy: The event directly drove 1,895 hotel room nights. Partner hotels practiced green concepts by reducing disposable items, adjusting the frequency of bed linen changes, purchasing local seasonal low-carbon ingredients, and preparing meals as needed.
The Volvo China Open's solid practices and outstanding achievements in sustainable event management have been highly recognized and officially commended by the European Tour Group. It has been awarded the "Green Action" certificate for two consecutive years from 2024 to 2025.
Maria Grandinetti-Milton, the Director of Sustainability at the European Tour Group, stated: "This 'Sustainable Tournament Charter', jointly developed with the GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf, is a sustainability guide for the golf industry. We look forward to this charter assisting the Volvo China Open organising committee in making steady progress on the path of sustainable event management, so that golf events not only serve as stages for sports competitions but also create more value for all stakeholders and bring more profound positive impacts to human society and the Earth's ecology."
Ms. Michel Zhao, Chairperson of the Volvo China Open Board of Directors, said: "Since accepting the guidance of the European Tour Group's 'Green Action' program in 2024, the Volvo China Open has made significant progress in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development. This year, we officially signed and joined the 'Sustainable Tournament Charter', looking forward to achieving greater breakthroughs from this new starting point. We will actively draw on international advanced experience, explore innovative practical solutions, and promote the sustainable development of the event to a new level."
