HECTOR BELLERIN ON THE CLIMATE CRISIS, FASHION AND FOOTBALL
We catch up with the footballer whose career has seen him playing for some of Europe’s biggest clubs, all while speaking passionately about the need for us all to care for our planet.
On Sunday February 16th, historic Spanish soccer club Real Betis walked out onto the pitch at the Estadio Benito Villamarin in front of 60,000 fans wearing a kit adorned with intricate coral and seaweed patterns. This was the first unveiling of the “Forever Green” kit, a collaboration between Real Betis, Parley, Hummel and Pyratex, the result being a jersey created with textile fibers derived from algae, wood pulp, and Parley Ocean Plastic. The limited-edition, eco-innovative kit pushes technological boundaries, reducing the need for virgin plastics, while also acting as a symbol for a Material Revolution that our planet desperately needs, and one that we at Parley are spearheading.
The day after Real Betis played Real Sociedad (winning 3-0 while wearing the Forever Green jersey!) we visited the club’s training ground to meet Héctor Bellerín, one of Betis’ star players, who’s unfortunately currently out with an injury and was unable to play. While Héctor is a globally-recognised soccer player who’s had a storied career that’s taken him to European giants such as Barcelona and Arsenal, he’s also well known for his consistency on speaking out about environmental issues.
Betis’ “Forever Green” initiative is its environmental platform that seeks to unite the club, its fans and all followers of the game to challenge the structures and systems that cause climate change. Through recycling and public transportation enterprises, reduction of paper usage and introduction of solar panels, Betis is now the most sustainable club in Spain and the second most sustainable in Europe.
Héctor joined Real Betis in 2021 on loan from Arsenal, before joining permanently in 2023. While he’d never played for Betis before, it felt like a homecoming in many ways. His grandma was a huge “Betico”, as was his father, and he’s now playing for a club that aligns with his own beliefs and puts them into practice. "We talk about a team that plays European football, that has 60,000 people coming every weekend to the stadium," he told the BBC in 2024. “From all the big clubs, especially here in Spain, Betis is setting an example and I am very proud of the work the club has in place and how it influences and promotes this kind of behaviour with its fanbase."
“It seems that fashion nowadays has just become this big wheel, this big machine that is just looking for profit, almost like every single big industry”
Héctor Bellerín
We caught up with Héctor while he was wearing the “Forever Green” kit to talk about the big picture when it comes to how football and fashion can use their global reach to influence climate discussion, but also the incremental changes that he has made as an individual.
Q & A
ON THE FOREVER GREEN JERSEY
“It's a very comfortable material. I didn't have a chance to wear it in the game as I’m injured unfortunately, but I can feel that it's very light on the body. The players told me that it was really good with the sweat – sometimes the materials can get a bit heavy. What I'm more pleased with is the colors and the design – I really like it. It's pretty simple, but at the same time really effective so I’m very happy with the colors and I think it is a really nice jersey.
HOW IT FEELS TO PLAY FOR A CLUB THAT CARES ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
“For me it is such a key factor and one of the reasons why I love being here, along with the fact that I've always been a Betis fan. I came here and realized that the club was just not close to me because of what it means to me, but also because of our shared beliefs and seeing firsthand how the ForeverGreen project is developing and raising so much awareness about things that are happening in the world. The foundation is doing amazing work, with so many different projects, and not just with sustainability, but also with other social injustices. The club is trying to do its best to help the community around us.”
ON WHAT INSPIRED HIM TO START SPEAKING OUT ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES
“I think it was a very organic path. I am someone that has been fortunate to be really close to nature growing up. As I grew older I saw firsthand as an adult all the decisions that we could make in our lives that would be more responsible, so I just started to question so many of the choices that I made day-to-day. My first one was my diet. I switched to veganism many years ago, which was like a door opening for me. From there I started researching, talking and debating about many other causes. I feel like so many of them are just little things that we can all do, but also we need to fight and demand for more change. This would mean there's not so much friction for us in order to make our choices, because I think we should have more resources available to us to have an easier way of deciding, so that we’re able to choose more responsibly.
HOW FOOTBALL CAN IMPROVE ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND USE ITS GLOBAL REACH TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
“Football is such a great platform that can influence many people, especially young people. If I'm honest with you, I think football is still very far away from where it should be if it wants to be an example with sustainable causes. I think there are a few examples of football clubs today that are really trying to make a change. We have Forest Green Rovers, we obviously have Betis as well, trying to do their best. There's some big differences in terms of operations as well when you talk about a small club like Forest Green Rovers and then you talk about the club with the magnitude of Betis. For me it's about realizing what the key areas are where clubs can improve. But I still believe that the big organizations in football should be the ones that are demanding change and putting strict rules on the table. This would make the clubs obliged to make changes and make all these resources more available. At football clubs, there's still lots of plastic use, lots of bottles of water in every single game in every single stadium. There's so many kits and material waste every single season because we play with new kits every game. Obviously the transport and the traveling, those are things that are the first ones that come to my mind. But there's so many changes that we can still make today, and I feel us players, fans, clubs, and organizations should push to make them available as soon as possible because we're always delaying this deadline, and it seems that it’s never really happening.”
ON THE ROLE OF FASHION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
“It has a key role today, but it has a detrimental role in my opinion. Fashion, clothes…are needed, and they're paramount for us. Every time we step into the street, we need to be wearing something. There's a big opportunity there to change the status quo and to change the habits that we all have. But it seems that fashion nowadays has just become this big wheel, this big machine that is just looking for profit, almost like every single big industry. It feels like fashion itself is not going to change that. Again, the answer and the fight has to come from us, from big governments, from people in positions of power because I always feel that they blame the consumer for not making the right choices. But those products are usually the ones that are more readily available. So there needs to be a shift of mindset, not just from consumers, but also from the producers and the lawmakers. Fashion is the same as football – things that are very, very important in our daily lives, so they are key players that can truly make a difference.”
“There needs to be a shift of mindset, not just from consumers, but also from the producers and the lawmakers”
Héctor Bellerín
ON THE CHANGES HE’S MADE IN HIS LIFE
“There are lots of little ones. I always try to use public transport, otherwise I try to go by bike. My food choices are always local and as green as possible. However, I always think that the most important thing that we can all single handedly do is vote. That is the power that democracy gives us – to vote for the governments and parties that truly believe in these causes and really want to change things. We live in a world today where it feels that we are just looking to the other side, just looking for profit and not really taking care of people, not really taking care of the world. I think our responsibility, more than anything, is to give power to people that want to make this world greener, that want to make lives easier for everyone. I think if I could give you a recommendation, that would be my one.”
ON HIS LOVE FOR THE OCEAN
“For me, the ocean is my life. It is very tough for me to imagine a future in which I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as I did as a kid and as I do today. I always remember when I lived in London, every time that we played a game against a team on the coast, the first thing I used to do was look out of the window. I always had a feeling that was very difficult to describe. I just always felt at home and at one with the sea. I spent many hours playing so much beach football when I was young and growing up, so it's just such a big part of me and my history that it always hurts to see all the damage that we are doing. Every little bit of help, recognition or raising awareness, like how we're doing with the Forever Green game… I think it's truly important. I just couldn't imagine my life without the ocean.”
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