Julien PIERRE (TBS 2019) - Turning sport greener

Julien, former professional rugbyman, has launched, together with Ademe, an awareness-raising campaign to make sport more environmentally friendly.

Rugbyman for 17 years

Julien Pierre is nearly 2 m tall and has an imposing stature. He earned his living playing professional rugby for 17 years. He played for clubs such as La Rochelle, Bourgoin-Jallieu and AS Montferrand, before becoming captain of Pau. He played 27 matchs with the French national team, with a grand slam in 2010 at the Six Nations Championship.  

While he has declared that today he has had his fair share of bangs and bruises, his thirst for commitment remains intact. It is a natural choice for him to turn towards the fight to preserve the environment as it was important to him as a child and even more so after a trip to Sumatra in 2009 where he saw first hand the devastation of forests and mangroves by man. He realized how urgent it is to act now. 

A shower that lasts the length of a song

Recently, in conjunction with the Agency for Ecological Transition (Ademe) he has launched a massive campaign to increase awareness in clubs and at sporting events. The idea behind this initiative is to adopt 10 easy actions that make sports activities greener, including taking a shower that doesn't last longer than a song, naming a person in charge of commitment towards the environment within each club, or even organizing equipment-swapping sessions at the start of the season. Moreover, all these actions are shared over social media.  

Julien Pierre denounces the fact that "a Football World Cup produces 2 million tons of greenhouse gas", quoting FIFA. According to Ademe, any sports event hosting 5000 people generates 2.5 tons of waste. Sport is a powerful tool in changing mentality. The campaign is designed to help influence the behaviour of individuals.

Green label

Julien Pierre is anything but a beginner. At the age of 38, after his rugby career, he studied our school's master's program to retrain high-level athletes. It was then that he thought about an ecological label for more environmentally friendly sports with Ademe. That is how Fair Play For Planet came to life at the end of 2020.

This label is designed for sports events and clubs and is awarded after a scrupulous audit done by experts who are certified by the French accreditation committee, Comité français d'accréditation. Roughly 10 clubs, including Olympique Lyonnais and the National Rugby League have already undergone audits. 

Helping save pandas in Nepal

In truth, Julien Pierre didn't wait until he'd left the scrum to take action. In 2012 he worked with the Auvergne animal reserve to create the "Conservation Gateway", and endowment fund to preserve endangered species. The red panda of Nepal, the lar gibbon, or the giant armadillo of Brazil can thank the former rugby prop. Julien announces that "Last year, we released 130000 euros". 

Julien Bonnaire, a former scrum mate, is hardly surprised about his teammate's commitment. He laughs at the thought that Julien has improved his public speaking. "When we met about 15 years' ago, he was a man of few words. The most important thing to remember is that he is a man you can count on in any situation." That's good news for the  environment and wild animals because it is just what they need. 

Article published in Les Echos, written by Henri de Lestapis