Players for the Planet Unite Athletes for Environmental Change
September 9, 2022
Players for the Planet (PFTP) is a global non-profit working to connect professional athletes, sports teams and organizations with actionable opportunities to create real environmental change. Through their partnership with One Tree Planted (OTP), a non-profit focused on global reforestation, current and former professional athletes are planting trees every time they make notable plays in their sport. Since 2014, One Tree Planted has planted over 40 million trees in more than 47 countries.
Both charities will be speaking on advancing sports sustainability and empowering athletes at the Sport Positive Summit taking place October 4-5 at London's Wembley Stadium. The Summit brings together sports stakeholders from all over the world to support the acceleration of positive climate action and ambition to safeguard the future of global sport.
PFTP was founded by former MLB players Chris Dickerson and Jack Cassel with the goal of uniting professional athletes to create positive change for the environment. With an ultimate mission to support the professional sports industry in becoming a leading example of “ecologically conscious, environmentally responsible and sustainable practices worldwide”, the organization has a network of more than 200 current and former professional athletes.
Since November 2021, the partnership has helped professional baseball across the USA and Japan make a positive impact. By first signing up as a forest ambassador, players choose their level of commitment and which reforestation project their campaign will support and fund. For example, one player may plant trees for every game their team wins, while another may choose to plant trees for every strikeout they throw.
“We as a society need to have a monumental reconnection in our relationship with nature in order to move towards a sustainable future. When, not if this takes place, sustainable policies and lifestyles will organically come to pass and we will once again inhabit a planet that thrives, is stable and abundantly provides for all life,” said Brent Suter, pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers. Through 42 team wins, Suter has planted a total of 4,200 trees for a reforestation project in India.
One Tree Planted has partnerships with reforestation organizations in six regions: North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Pacific. Participants can choose a project to donate to within in each region – one dollar plants one tree. Donations are pooled for each project with funds sent to the reforestation partners, enabling them to cover the costs required to get these trees in the ground.
The tropics lost 11.1 million hectares of tree cover in 2021, according to new data from the University of Maryland. Of particular concern to scientists are the 3.75 million hectares of loss within tropical primary rainforests — areas of critical importance for carbon storage and biodiversity — equivalent to a rate of 10 football pitches a minute.
“We were in Oakland last year getting ready for the series, and we had batting practice canceled both days and almost had the games canceled because of smoke from the wildfires. And the air quality was so bad,” said Nick Ahmed from the Arizona Diamondbacks. “I know that’s been an issue up there as well this year. Hopefully, people wake up and understand that our planet needs to be cared for in a great way.”
In addition to reforestation issues, PFTP’s environmental initiatives include beach clean-ups, recycling events, plastic reduction, conservation efforts, eliminating single-use plastics in sports facilities and more. Every year, around 11 million metric tons of plastic waste enter our oceans on top of the estimated 200 million metric tons that currently circulate in our marine environments.
PFTP’s roster of professional athletes also spans outside of baseball and includes, National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) player Lauren Barnes, professional beach volleyball player Corinne Quiggle, professional rock climber Sasha DiGiulian and former professional racing driver Leilani Münter.
Our sister consultancy, thinkBeyond, is pleased to be a silver partner of this year's Sport Positive Summit.