BT Sport's Best Foot Forward & Tottenham's sustainability commitments with Joe Cole & Carlton Cole

Tottenham Hotspur are a club dedicated to sustainability. It’s a philosophy that runs deep through them.

They were a founding member of the 10:10 emission, a scheme dedicated to encouraging people to cut emissions by 10% in a year. They won the Sustainability Award at the Football Business Awards in 2022. They have joined the UN Race to Zero initiative.

Spurs are ahead of the curve when it comes to being green. It’s a sentiment shared by BT Sport duo Joe Cole and Carlton Cole.

"Listen, Spurs are way ahead of the game in terms of sustainability," Carlton asserted in a lounge at the club’s Hotspur Way training ground between filming sessions for BT Sport’s Best Foot Forward series.

"You've got to look at their training facilities, how it's been made, how much investment's gone into it as well. From the groundsman to how they've built it and all the way to the stadium. The Premier League has a long way to go but at least Spurs are leading the charge in making people aware how to do things to make a better future for our kids."

That last line resonates particularly with former teammate Joe, the necessity of doing this for future generations and not just the current one.

"Sustainability to me means respect, really. There's a lot of people who might say it can be 'packaged' and 'virtue signaling'. But I think at its core, it's just respect for the planet and respect for your children and your children's children, and we're trying to find different ways," he concurred.

"We always have to be mindful that there are technologies that could emerge that will supersede anything we're doing now. We must be flexible, you've got to be open-minded."

Joe and Carlton’s day at Hotspur Way saw them arrive on bikes to meet up with former England colleague and current Tottenham ambassador Ledley King. A tour of the complex - brimming with wildlife, much which was still present prior to the grounds opening in 2012 - was followed by a cook-off, with the pair serving up vegan burgers with the help of club chef Ted.

"I think Tottenham have been fantastic. You can tell this training ground has been very, very well thought [about]. I think all businesses going forward will be like this, they're trailblazers in that sense," Joe added.

Ahead of Green Football Weekend, the biggest football and climate campaign ever staged, Joe and Carlton were keen to stress that while sustainability is important to them personally, football fans can get involved too.

"There's so many ways they can help. It's got to be individualistic and tailored, it can start with recycling or getting the train or bike to work. It can start with cutting down on your meat consumption,” Joe said. "There's so many different ways and nobody has to be perfect. You don't have to be in one camp or the other, just understand that there's one planet. We have to look after it, be respectful, it's a global thing, do what you can. Every little bit helps."

Carlton added: "Football fans need to be a bit more conscious, but they do need help about how to be sustainable. You've got to look at things like clubs needing to signpost where to put their recyclable materials. I'd say even what they're eating and asking questions about where their food is coming from. They can shape what I see for the future for a very sustainable planet. But the ecosystem needs everybody to be involved and I feel I've started to look at little bits of my life I can change. Hopefully football fans can see the same thing, and watching programmes like this would be brilliant."

BT Sport aims to be one of the greenest broadcasters in the UK, and will soon broadcast 'Best Foot Forward', a new series which spotlights the sustainability work of clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, who aim to be net zero on carbon by 2040. BT Sport supports Green Football Weekend (greenfootballweekend.com) from February 3 to 5, when fans will be encouraged to take climate-friendly action.