Dozens of people from across the sports industry and sustainability gathered in Lisbon for the Biodiversity in Sport Summit at SL Benfica’s Estadio da Luz in October 2025.
Organised by the BENCHES project – a European Union-funded initiative aiming to improve sports organisations’ understanding of, and impact on, biodiversity – the summit brought together speakers from across the project partners alongside external experts in biodiversity and sport.
The conference opened with a presentation from BENCHES project leader Tiberio Daddi of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, who outlined the project’s objectives and early findings at its halfway point. The project runs from 2024 to 2027.
Daddi reflected on site visits conducted with each sports partner – SL Benfica, World Athletics, the International Biathlon Union, World Sailing and the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation – as well as key deliverables covering supply chains, biodiversity pressures from sport and practical frameworks organisations can adopt.
He also previewed the development of a free biodiversity management tool for sports organisations, currently being created by the BENCHES project.
As summit host, SL Benfica presented its first sustainability report. Henrique Conceição, head of sustainability, and Pedro Félix, chief infrastructures & cultural heritage officer, outlined the club’s progress to date and its future plans for environmental management.
Ecosystem services in sport were the focus of the first panel, featuring project partners Bob Ramsak (World Athletics), Anna Merlini (Italian Canoe Kayak Federation) and Alessio Novi (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies), alongside Ana Agostinho, sustainability lead at E1 team Westbrook Racing. Panellists highlighted the importance of healthy natural environments to the success of sporting events and the actions they are taking to protect them.
A second panel examined biodiversity risks within sports supply chains, with contributions from Barbara Rettenbacher (International Biathlon Union), Rebecca Videlo (World Sailing) and Nuno Gomes (Vilamoura Youth Sailing World Championships). While acknowledging that supply chains are not fully within their control, the panellists agreed that clear expectations and safeguards are increasingly being put in place to ensure suppliers protect nature.