The FIA attended the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, as an Observer to the UNFCCC for the second time. 

FIA Director of Sustainability and D&I, Sara Mariani, represented the Federation alongside leading policymakers, business leaders, and activists from across the world. 

Over the course of the conference fortnight, Sara spoke at two high-level events: a Greening Urban Transport Global Ministerial and a Sport for Climate Action talk.  

The Global Ministerial represented the first Ministerial level roundtable that the FIA has attended. During the event, Sara highlighted the FIA’s commitment to promoting a just, sustainable and inclusive mobility transition. She emphasised the fact that sustainability efforts will vary across communities – and that governments should adapt their approach to account for different social, political, or financials conditions. 

In the Sport for Climate Action talk, she expanded on these ideas, highlighting the fact that sport’s sustainability future will require a holistic, communal approach —  where teams, Clubs, audiences, and drivers work together to introduce and maintain green measures and practices. She pointed out: “We are lucky that many of our audiences are already engaged with environmental issues. But we can also introduce certain measures which make it easier for audiences to act sustainably. For example, we are working with the MIT Senseable City Lab to review mobility patterns around major events like the United States Grand Prix, and provide suggestions on how to make these greener and more efficient.” 

Alongside COP29, the FIA partnered with the World Road Transport Union (IRU) to host eco-driving awareness training for 5000 bus and taxi drivers.  The training sessions served to reduce the climate footprint of the event, with guidance on how to cut emissions and keep safe on the roads – with top tips on idling, heating, harsh braking and other driver activity. 

Drivers were then challenged to put these skills into action with an FIA Smart Driving Challenge at COP29 which had significant impact.  

Across all three categories – bus drivers, taxi drivers, and individual drivers – we saw an average climate impact reduction of 11%, with the overall winner achieving an impressive 32%. 

FIA Director of Sustainability and D&I, Sara Mariani, said: “The FIA is committed to reducing its climate impact and creating a more sustainable future across both motorsport and mobility. This week’s meetings allowed us to set out our network’s sustainability mission on a global platform — and to connect with a new community of stakeholders, policymakers, and private sector organisations.” 

The FIA will continue to promote its sustainability agenda at FIA Sustainable Innovation Series events in late 2024 and early 2025. 

*The percentage of battery usage or CO2 emissions savings is calculated based on Greater Than’s AI technology. The data of each trip is analysed and transformed into a unique DriverDNA profile that is then compared to a database of over 7 billion DriverDNA profiles to evaluate CO2 savings.