Athletes call on world leaders to deliver on climate action
November 12, 2021
In a video backed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), more than 50 Olympians and Paralympians called on world leaders to deliver on climate action. Initiated by British double Olympic sailing champion Hannah Mills and Olympic rower Melissa Wilson, it was released to coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) which ends today in Glasgow.
Mills launched the Big Plastic Pledge in 2019, an athlete driven movement to eliminate the use of single-use plastic within and beyond sport. She said that athletes “are counting on world leaders to take accelerated climate action at COP26.”
In the video, which includes the likes of Kenyan marathon star Eliud Kipchoge and retired Spanish basketball legend Pau Gasol, athletes warn of the impact of climate change on sport and the threat it poses to their futures. “This is the race we need to win, and the speed of the race is determined by each of the participants in it,” they state.
This comes off the back of over 200 athletes, sports teams, sports-adjacent organisations – including Beyond Sport – and thought leaders backing the COP26 Sports Community Manifesto developed by EcoAthletes. Endorsers want the leaders of COP26 to know that they have the support of the global sports industry from around the world to accelerate the #ClimateComeback.
Mills and Wilson were also speakers during the Sport for Climate Action Day on November 3 at the EXTREME Hangout curated by our sister consultancy, thinkBeyond. During the Athlete Activist panel, Wilson spoke of climate change being about emotion rather than thought. “What we are shifting towards is that this is an emotive issue. Climate change is a feelings game, as opposed to a thinking game.”
In March 2020, the IOC made the decision to make the Olympic Games climate positive. From 2030 onwards, each organising committee will be contractually obliged to minimise and compensate its direct and indirect carbon emissions and implement lasting zero-carbon solutions for the Games and beyond. The next Olympics will take place in February 2022 in Beijing, China.
IOC President Thomas Bach recently called for more cooperation from Governments to combat climate change, warning the world was in a race against time which nobody can win alone. The IOC has committed to reducing its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030. Its action plan includes reducing emissions in the areas of travel, energy use and procurement.
"The IOC is delighted to support this initiative, and help Olympic athletes use their powerful voices to create a more sustainable future for everyone," said Bach.
"Climate change is one of the biggest challenges humanity has ever faced, and the IOC is proud to be leading the Olympic Movement’s response to this crisis. Sport has the power to make the world a better place, and today we have an opportunity to use this power in the face of climate change."
Source: Inside the Games