Climate Change and the World of Sports

Sangwook Ahn

Climate change touches every aspect of human life and global sports are no exception. Natural disasters, wildfires, typhoons, rising temperatures, and severe weather are disrupting sports events all around the world. Both competitive and recreational athletes’ ability to participate in many sports is affected in impacting people of all ages and backgrounds.

Shortening the winter season poses a substantial threat to snow sports. Beach volleyball courts in southern California are disappearing due to rising tides. Smoke from bush fires disrupted the Australia Open in Tennis. The Tokyo Olympics, the hottest summer Olympics ever, had to move the marathon outside the city because of the high temperature and the tennis games were played at night.

Global professional sports are threatened because of the rising heat, excessive floods, droughts, extreme weather, and sea level rises. In 2019 the Rugby World Cup, 3 rugby games were canceled because of the typhoon. In 2020 the wildfires in Australia caused the cancellation of the cricket and tennis games because the courts were filled with smoke. The possible host city for the next men’s football world games in Seattle may not be able to hold the games in the 43 °C weather.

However, global sports aren’t just the victim but also the cause of the problem. They are also a contributor to climate change. Although no one has done a full carbon edit of global sports, it generates approximately 0.6% of global carbon emissions. The sportswear industry is the source of considerable emissions and transport generated is also a serious contributor to the carbon footprint.

Then what radical changes must be made to global sports? In addition to urging sporting institutions to be carbon zero in the next decade, the global sportswear industry must be more transparent about the carbon it produces and make a similar next zero commitment. Also, fossil fuel sponsorship in global sports should end.

Above all, people should start having conversations about the future of sports and the role they can play in reducing their carbon footprint. “Sports has the power to reach a large number of people who aren’t listing to scientists or politicians.” Sports can be a powerful tool in climate politics.