Sports, Olympics, and Climate: Guest Edition

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games began last Friday, just one week after the latest “hellishly hot” heatwave baked the continent. Understandably, people are becoming more and more worried about the impacts of extreme heat on athletes and fans at the summer games, as well as the fact that climate change is rapidly rendering many winter Olympic venues untenable.

Here to walk you through the good news, the not-so-good news, and what you can do when it comes to sports and climate is my guest curator, Lewis Blaustein . I first met Lew through our mutual connection with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, where I was impressed and encouraged with the way he was channeling his interest in sports into climate action.

Today, Lew is the founder of EcoAthletes and the creator of GreenSportsBlog.?Take it away, Lew!

Athletes are among the most influential humans on the planet. From Billie Jean King to Colin Kaepernick, they’ve led on a myriad of social issues over the past 80 years. But on climate change, athletes have largely stayed on the sidelines: and I had to find out what was holding athletes back.?Through my work with GreenSportsBlog over the past 11 years, I’ve been able to interview many environmentally active athletes who speak out on issues like ocean plastic pollution but who don’t want to talk climate.

When I ask them why, I hear the same three reasons: ?

1. It’s too science-y.
2. It’s too political.
3. I’m going to get hammered on social media for being a hypocrite because I fly all over the place and my personal carbon footprint is through the roof.

To tackle these barriers and empower the Muhammad Alis and Megan Rapinoes of climate change, in 2020 I launched EcoAthletes. Our goal is to give our growing global network of Champions — over 160 pros, Olympians, and NCAA student-athletes — the tools to advance from “climate curious” to climate leaders.?But here, as Guest Sports Editor for this issue of Talking Climate, my job is to share the ups and downs of the small but fast-growing world of green sports and how it can help lead the much-needed #ClimateComeback. Here are my picks!

GOOD NEWS

The sports world has done a great job at what I refer to as Green Sports 1.0—the greening of sports venues through energy efficient lighting, on-site solar, LEED certified stadia/arenas, and more. In many countries, these are now the rule rather than the exception.?

Unfortunately, the sports world has been much slower to advance to Green Sports 2.0. Ninety-nine percent of sports fans consume sports on their TVs, laptops, and phones. This next stage consists of engaging fans on the need to take and urge climate action. Why is this stage lagging so badly?

While hard data is lacking, in my opinion wide-scale awareness is minimal because many sports teams have largely kept their environmental work quiet, likely for fear of political blow-back; athletes have mainly stayed on the climate action sidelines; and major media, sports and otherwise, have largely ignored the topic.?

The good news is that these last two are changing in real time. The Rings of Fire report about the potentially deadly heat risks to athletes and spectators at the Paris 2024 Olympics was widely discussed, including in Forbes and the BBC. PBS did a deep dive into how climate is impacting sports. And NBC, the long-time “Network of the Olympics” in the USA, featured five EcoAthletes Champions sharing their stories about the impacts of climate change on their sports and their passion for the #ClimateComeback.

NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS

The scaling up of Green Sports 2.0 sadly but predictably faces significant headwinds in the form of blatant greenwashing that is often funded by the fossil fuel industry, and is also hampered by sneakily dangerous “what can we do?” shoulder-shrugging.?

FIFA, the governing body of soccer, the world’s most popular sport, is one example. It touts the on-site greening of its crown jewel events, the quadrennial Men’s and Women’s World Cups: while also announcing a $100 million annual partnership for the 2026 Men’s and 2027 Women’s World Cups with Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s state oil giant and deciding to hold the 2030 Men’s World Cup in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay…and Morocco…and Spain and Portugal. Nothing says, “we don’t care about the climate!” like partnering with a sponsor responsible for 3.6% of global carbon emissions and hosting a World Cup on three continents.?

In the category of “what can we do” shoulder-shrugging, events like Wimbledon do a great job of making the event itself as sustainable as possible. But, as Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated’s terrific tennis writer, noted in his “50 Parting Thoughts from Wimbledon”: “If Wimbledon wants to go paperless and cashless and serve tofu tempeh one day and tempeh tofu the next, great. But it all chimes rather hollow when set off by the phalanx of tournament Range Rovers transporting players and staff to their homes a short walk away, when Emirates is a sponsor (now with Centre Court signage) and when so many patrons arrive by private jet.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO

I see first-hand the power of athletes using their voices every day, and as sports fans, I’m convinced that you can use yours to accelerate the #ClimateComeback, too! Here are three concrete ways you can make a difference:?

First, start a conversation about climate change with fellow sports fans, even if it is uncomfortable to get these conversations going.?One way to get started is to bring up how climate change is impacting the sports that you love. You can brainstorm how sports can become more climate friendly. Then, write to us at EcoAthletes ([email protected]) to let us know how your conversation went!?

Next, write or call your favorite team — pro or college — and ask them if they have a climate action plan. If the answer is no, then offer to write one. Get in touch with EcoAthletes and we will help you.?

Lastly, follow an EcoAthletes Champion (or two, or five) on social media. Share and like their climate-themed posts. Invite your friends to follow them too. And circle right back to number one: use what you learn to start more conversations about why climate change matters and what sports fans, athletes, and teams can do about it!

INSPIRATIONAL ATHLETES

Here are a few of EcoAthletes I am inspired by:

Garry Gilliam Jr. - Keynote Speaker ?(left)?overcame crazy odds to play seven seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman. After retiring, he started an innovative mixed-use real estate development company, The Bridge Eco-Village . It acquires abandoned warehouses and schools and retrofits them into apartments, co-working spaces, parks, and places for indoor agriculture, turning them into places where formerly marginalized folks can live, learn, eat, work, and play. Listen to a podcast interview I did with Garry in 2020 here.

Jordan Marie Whetstone ?(centre)?is a long-distance runner, an indigenous people’s activist, a climate justice advocate, and a documentary film producer. She led a youth run from North Dakota to Washington DC to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Leanna Carriere ?(right)?is an ironman triathlete. She and her partner Timm, a climate scientist, are on a cross-Canada bike ride, from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Vancouver to raise awareness of the climate crisis and the need for climate action. Next year the duo plans to cycle from the North Slope of Alaska to Chilean Patagonia to draw attention to the climate impacts on migratory birds.?

Thank you Lew for such an inspiring and insightful edition.?You can find EcoAthletes on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. And most importantly: don't forget to watch out and cheer for the nearly 20 EcoAthlete Champions in the this year's Summer Olympics!