VANTAGE POINT
Sustainability in motorsport

As the Sustainability Director of Formula E, the world’s first fully-electric racing series, and an
advisor to its off-road spin-off series, Extreme E, Julia Palle is at the leading edge of the drive to
improve motorsport’s environmental credentials. Educated in her native France, she graduated
with an MSc in Sustainability Studies and Change Management, and began her career focusing
on sustainability from a tyre perspective at Michelin Motorsport. She joined Formula E at the
very beginning, and has pioneered its world-leading approach to sustainability ever since.
She is also President of Sports and Sustainability International, leading a group of experts in
broadening and harmonising sport and sustainability.
When I started my career in motorsport, I saw a
huge opportunity to improve the practices of an
industry that is perceived as having a negative
impact on the environment. That is actually a
relatively unfair reputation, to be honest, because when you
get into the detail of big international events like concerts,
exhibitions and so on, their environmental impact is probably
more than motorsport events, but because you are racing cars
on track and using a lot of fuel, people have naturally been
inclined to say this is very unsustainable. That said, there is a
lot of work to do to achieve a sustainable future.

Revolution - August 2021

Since I joined Formula E, our priority has been to always
be at the forefront, to be leaders and innovators, and to
be bulletproof in sustainability. For everything we do, we
have proof, documentation and certifications that keep us
accountable. We are audited three times a year by an external
auditor, and that is very important because in sustainability
there has been a trend where big corporations are
greenwashing, making sustainability claims but not backing
those up with facts. Being able to prove everything you do and
say is the best way to combat that and to give confidence and
reassurance to your fans, your partners or your racing teams.

56