ACP's event in the World Rally Championship has the maximum environmental accreditation score since 2017.
Since 2017, the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal has been recognised by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) as an event that applies the best environmental practices in the FIA World Rally Championship, in areas such as waste management, water and energy consumption and transport, among others. And as it has happened in the last six years, the 2023 edition of the Portuguese World Rally Championship will once again receive the 3 stars of the FIA Environmental Programme.
This is the result of the efforts of the organization of the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal to reduce the carbon footprint, always in a logic of continuous improvement, a commitment that has since then been occupying an increasingly central role in the organization of this race, being today one of the most recognized aspects within the world rally championship. The International Olympic Committee has also elected the 2019 edition of the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal as the first case of success in motorsport history for environmental sustainability.
Through its environmental accreditation programme, FIA aims to reduce the environmental impact of world rally events, which reinforces one of the main objectives of the Automóvel Club de Portugal: the policy of preserving the environment in the rally. The WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal cooperates with the Agência Portuguese Environmental Agency (APA) in the area of sustainability, which places the Environmental Commissioners of the race on the ground, as well as all the municipalities involved in this international event, in a common effort to improve practices and also to raise awareness of these issues among authorities, partners, spectators and the general public.
FIA has published its environmental strategy for the decade 2020-2030, with the goal of achieving zero emissions in 2030, encouraging club cars and motorsport event organisers to introduce sustainable practices, with the least possible impact, which is fully in line with what the Automóvel Club de Portugal has been developing since 2007. It is, therefore, natural that the ACP's President, Carlos Barbosa, has an active presence as a member of FIA's Sustainability Commission. But ACP doesn't stop at sport and in 2023 will also begin a process of extending its environmental accreditation so that all the club's activities comply with good environmental practices.