Sports fans be warned. The climate crisis is going to cause a few upsets. It’s been predicted that by 2050, around half of former winter Olympic host cities will not have enough snow and ice to play host again. Meanwhile, a quarter of English league football grounds will be partially or totally flooded every year.
And that’s just sport at professional level. Grassroots sports clubs are likely to fare just as badly, if not worse. Sport has a critical role in tackling the climate crisis, which is why event organizers are going all out to create a more sustainable culture.
Birmingham’s 2022 Commonwealth Games was applauded for its high environmental standards, and organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics are hoping to follow suit. The aim is to lower the Games’ emissions by 50% compared to London 2012 and Rio 2016, something they will do by reusing existing competition sites, encouraging the use of public transport and offsetting all unavoidable emissions.
Elsewhere, sports fans have been taking action, too. Attendees at some of the biggest sporting events this summer made 1.74 million climate-positive changes to their match-day habits.
The initiative, launched by Sky Sports, saw fans committing to eating less meat (69,031 actions), using greener forms of transport (422,375 actions), and recycling more waste and using refillable water bottles (1,249,296 actions).
Athletes themselves are also getting involved. Inspired by the likes of Marcus Rashford and Simone Biles, who used their platforms to discuss food poverty and mental health, respectively, Athletes of the World is encouraging athletes who want to use their voice for good, to speak out about climate change.
Climate change is an uphill battle, but by speaking out, working together and taking mitigation measures, we can minimize the damage caused.
