“It’s not that the world needed another motor racing series, but the planet did.” Julia Pallé on racing to sustainability

The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship brings high speed motor racing to city streets around the world, from London to Seoul.

Besides introducing the world’s best drivers to roads normally reserved for the daily commute, the championship has an important sustainability role. Net zero since its inception, Formula E was established to actively promote electric mobility and renewable energy solutions, and to help reduce energy pollution and fight the climate crisis.

With this in mind, it’s no surprise that Formula E scooped a top prize at the 2001 BSI Standards User Awards for using BS ISO 20121 Event sustainability management systems to deliver their World Championship series of events. It was an award that acknowledged their innovative and collaborative approach to event sustainability.

We spoke with Formula E’s Sustainability Director and BSI Member, Julia Pallé, about her career, how Formula E has developed its pioneering approach to sustainability, and how BS ISO 20121 plays a role in its ongoing success.

How did your journey in motorsport and sustainability begin?

“I’ve been working in sustainability in motorsport since the beginning. I started at Michelin Motorsport, who were looking for someone to translate group sustainability strategy into the specifics of motorsport.
I spent three wonderful years at Michelin, before I was recruited by Formula E. It was the early days, so I started with a blank page, but with the aim of developing a really strong sustainability strategy.

“It’s not that the world needed another racing series, but the planet did.

“Formula E really was created to provide a platform to advance electrification and find solutions to climate change, and my job over the last eight years has been to make the product as sustainable as possible.”

How did you come to work with BSI?

“My first job at Formula E was to develop the environmental strategy. At the time, I used the industry standard set by the FIA, which had instituted a really good environmental management system framework made up of a range of different ISO standards. I certified the championship to the highest level of these FIA standards in the first season.

“I then started looking for something bigger, broader, and a bit more holistic and sophisticated. That’s when I heard about ISO 20121, and I thought it was completely aligned with what we were doing.”

How has the ISO 20121 standard helped Formula E shape its sustainability vision?

“I met a BSI associate, Pierluigi Zacheo, who helped develop the standard, and it completely clicked that this would be the way forward. I had already developed a solid environmental strategy, but I wanted something structured that would also add credibility as we were starting to develop.

“I started working with the standards makers in the second season of Formula E in 2015 and we decided to do a pilot project focused on our London event. It went well, so we decided to use that pilot to inform the approach for the championship as a whole.

“The standard enabled us to create and embed a culture of sustainability on an operational and leadership level. We’re not perfect, but we look at sustainability in everything we do, and take into account the environmental impact, the social inclusivity, and the economic benefits we can create.”

How do you work with your partners and race teams to ensure everyone has the same buy-in to Formula E’s sustainability vision?

“When developing our strategy, we started by focusing on the events themselves. We then focused on what we were doing in the cities, which included everything from community engagement to waste management.

“We are now at the stage where we’re working with our teams, partners, and prospects. We help them develop sustainability activations that are really authentic to their own cultural alignments, KPIs, and objectives.

“For example, when we started working with Allianz, global financial services provider, we were looking at reducing plastic pollution. Allianz decided to sponsor our efforts with branded re-usable water pouches, water fountains, and other products, alongside joint messaging on why reducing plastic pollution is important, and how we were working together to achieve this goal.

“This approach saved the equivalent of over 200,000 330ml single-use plastic bottles in one season alone.

“For the racing teams, it’s the same. For example, some teams feel very strongly on gender diversity and inclusion, so we’ve developed a programme called Girls on Track. All teams are offered the opportunity to put forward some of their female team members – whether they be engineers or commercial staff – to talk to young girls about careers in the sport.”

What’s the next challenge for sustainability in Formula E?

“Our vision has grown and evolved. When we started it was all about advanced electrification. This is still a core part of the mission, but we’ve realised that the championship is now about much more.

“Our mission is to accelerate sustainable human progress, so the aim now is to demonstrate that we are delivering. We want to help our teams and partners showcase how their innovative and sustainable solutions allow people to live a better, more exciting life.

“Often the conversation around climate change is doom and gloom, but we want to switch the narrative and show young people a bright future is achievable. Working with our partners and teams to change the face of their industries is a way of doing this, and the next challenge for us.”

Find out more about event sustainability here.

Explore sustainable events management online training course – ISO 20121