Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
The 2025 Weltklasse Zurich athletics meeting has earned platinum level recognition under the Athletics for a Better World (ABW) Standard, a sustainability evaluation system by World Athletics. It is only the second one-day athletics event to achieve this highest tier since the standard’s launch in 2024 and the fourth event overall, according to the organisation.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe highlighted that the event’s sustainability efforts began nearly two decades ago, when such initiatives were uncommon in sport. Over the years, Weltklasse Zurich has developed practices that benefit sport in general, according to the statement.
Since 2008, the organisers have measured the event’s carbon emissions, staging their first carbon-neutral edition in 2009. Led by co-meeting director Christoph Joho, the sustainability team has continued to reduce environmental impacts and enhance social benefits. Their experience contributed to the ABW Standard’s development and implementation.
In 2022, researchers from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies audited the event’s sustainability actions for an EU Commission-funded project on climate change mitigation in sport. A roundtable on improving sustainability at athletics events, a first for the Diamond League series, was also held.
The 2025 event demonstrated progress across six pillars of the ABW Standard, including energy and procurement management and stakeholder engagement. Letzigrund Stadium was powered entirely by renewable energy, mainly hydroelectric, through a local tariff scheme.
Admission tickets included a public transport pass through a partnership with the Zurich Transport Network (ZVV). Almost 70% of spectators used this option, while another 6% walked or bicycled to the venue. The event’s 364 tonnes of CO2e emissions were fully offset, split roughly half between funding a sustainable forest management project in Switzerland and other initiatives.