YOU don’t usually hear climate change said or written in the same sentence nor mentioned in the same breath unless it’s a cause for alarm because it’s making an environmental impact on soccer fields, baseball diamonds, football pitches, cricket grounds and other areas where outdoor sports are played.
It is imperative, now more than ever, for sports organizations to incorporate climate change into their business models.
According to brinknews.com, “For example, unprecedented bushfires in Australia caused residual smoke that drifted into Melbourne during the qualifying rounds of the 2020 Australian Open Tennis Tournament. The poor air quality forced some players to withdraw from the tournament and at least one match to be suspended.”
More from brinknknews.com, “A 2018 study led by the University of Waterloo concluded that ‘if global emissions of greenhouse gases are not dramatically reduced, only eight of the 21 cities that have previously hosted the Winter Olympics will be cold enough to reliably host the Games by the end of this century.’”
The National Atmospheric Administration projects that sea levels will go up by 2.5 meters. Rising sea levels will make hurricanes and tsunamis more intense in the coming years.
Extreme weather changes may lead to scheduling adjustments, postponements and possible cancellations of sports events be it indoor or outdoor.
A step towards the direction of factoring climate change into the business model of sports organisations is to be a signatory of the UN’s Sports Climate Action Framework.
What is the UN’s Sports Climate Action Framework? From the aforementioned article, “Encourages sports organizations to agree to a set of principles that will make them climate leaders.”
Climate change will continue to have an unfortunate impact on event schedules, and athletes’ health and wellness.
A paper published on www.un.org says “In a cyclical manner, the sport sector is impacted by the consequences of rising temperatures. Heavier precipitations, higher sea levels, and the increase in the number of extreme weather events are having disruptive consequences on sport.”
“In addition to all of its other dangers, climate change poses a serious threat to sports. The 2020 Australian Open had to stop play due to excessive smoke from brush fires. Cricket, the world’s second most popular sport, had to deal with record-breaking heat on the Indian subcontinent this spring,” from news.wosu.org
One organization that has factored in climate change into its business model are the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken.
The name of the home ice of the Seattle Kraken is the “Climate Pledge Arena.” It is the first zero-carbon arena in the world and is powered exclusively by renewable energy including both on-site and offsite solar, instead of the widespread standard use of natural gas found in other arenas.