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Sport’s role in the climate crisis

This is an excerpt from International Sport Management-3rd Edition by Eric W. MacIntosh,Gonzalo A. Bravo,Carrie W. LeCrom.

By Madeleine Orr

As discussed ­here, climate change is caused primarily by human-­induced warming of the atmosphere, which happens through the green­house gas effect. While data sources are underdeveloped, the best available estimates peg sport’s contributions to annual green­house gas emissions at approximately 1 ­percent of global totals (Wilby et al., 2023). This is largely from interregional and international travel by athletes, the media, and fans and energy use in energy-­intensive buildings (like hockey arenas). For example, consider the emissions linked to shipping all the broadcast equipment, cars, tires, safety equipment, and thousands of staff around to each Formula One race in a season. With 24 races (as of 2025) across five continents, the logistics associated with the racing series are ­immense.

Sport is far from being the worst sector when it comes to emissions (that would be the energy production sector, followed by land change sectors—­forestry, mining, agriculture), but we do have some responsibility to reduce emissions. This is called climate mitigation ­because the goal is to mitigate ­future climate change through emissions reductions.

Overview of Mitigation Strategies

Many ways to reduce emissions and mitigate sport’s contributions to ­future climate change exist. This list is not exhaustive, but it provides a set of options available to most sport ­organizations, regardless of the resources they have available to devote to mitigating climate change.

• Energy efficiencies. ­These reduce the amount of energy used. Examples include installing light sensors so the lights only come on when needed and automatically turn off when not in use or switching out incandescent light bulbs for energy-­efficient LED alternatives.
• Renewable energy. This is the adoption of clean sources of energy, ­either by purchasing energy from a provider that sources its energy from solar, wind, hydro, or nuclear or by installing on-­site energy production systems, such as rooftop solar panels or wind turbines. The Forest Green Rovers of the United Kingdom’s Champions League are powered by renewable energy purchased through their sponsor (and ­owner Dale Vince’s com­pany) Ecotricity.
• Procurement policies. Since all production and manufacturing produce emissions and then shipping produces additional emissions, it is impor­tant to reduce the amount of “stuff” we buy and to avoid purchasing materials that are not absolutely necessary. Procurement policies that target local sourcing (to reduce emissions from shipping) and minimum-­buy princi­ples (to reduce the overall amount of stuff procured) can reduce a sport ­organization’s emissions considerably. The IOC has a guide for sustainable procurement that lists specific strategies for reducing overall emissions linked to procurement, which is now being used by Olympic host committees.
• Waste diversion. Finding ways to reuse materials, or to recycle and compost, can reduce emissions by avoiding sending waste to landfills (which produce considerable emissions). The NFL Green program has facilitated waste diversion programs at ­every Super Bowl since the 1990s.
• ­Water conservation and reuse. Using less ­water, conserving rainwater and “gray ­water” (­water that is used but not dirty, such as runoff ­water at ­water ­bottle refill stations), and capturing rain ­water are all ways to reduce emissions, as ­water treatment is emissions intensive. By using less ­water, you produce fewer emissions. In Scottsdale, Arizona, a co­ali­tion of golf courses collaborated in the 1980s and 1990s to build a graywater treatment plant and 13.5 miles of piping to transport the treated ­water to their fairways. ­These pioneering courses have been using recycled ­water for more than 20 years.
• Travel reductions. Choosing ground travel instead of high-­emitting travel (e.g., air travel) and reducing the overall amount of travel in sports are two impor­tant ways to reduce emissions. In most sport ­organizations, athlete, staff, and fan travel are the largest contributors to overall emissions. This intuitively makes sense in a sector defined by intercity and international travel. Still, it is impor­tant to tackle travel emissions in order to mitigate climate change. In addition to choosing ground travel instead of air travel for short-­distance trips and reducing business travel in ­favor of virtual meetings, sport ­organizations should consider restructuring travel schedules so teams play more doubleheaders and ­organizing big leagues into regional conferences for regular season play. One shining example comes from the Norwegian national cross-­country ski team, which swapped a private jet for a private bus to travel to their ­European events, cutting their travel emissions by as much as 80 ­percent.
• Promoting green transport. One way to reduce emissions is to promote public transit and active transit (i.e., cycling, walking) to sport practices, games, and events. One good example of this comes from the J. League (soccer) in Japan, which offers ticketholders ­free public transport on the day of the game.

­These strategies are all related to reducing overall emissions related to sport. Each one reduces consumption use by finding efficiencies, restructuring operations, and adding sustainability criteria to procurement decisions so the materials entering the sport system are more sustainable, meaning they are more durable and made from sustainable (renewable or recycled) materials.

Offsetting

A second category of mitigation strategies has emerged in recent years: offsetting. Offsetting is the practice of balancing out a person or ­organization’s carbon emissions by investing in proj­ects that reduce GHG emissions or remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Essentially, offsets are a way of paying to reduce the carbon footprint of one’s activities. Examples of offsetting proj­ects include tree-­planting efforts, kelp farming, capping oil wells that are no longer in use, finding innovative ways to lock carbon into cement, and covering open landfills.

In theory, offsetting has wide-­ranging benefits: It reduces GHG emissions and draws down GHGs already in the atmosphere. Both are necessary to curb climate change. Offsetting proj­ects can also deliver on social sustainability benefits, such as creating jobs in rural areas, protecting sources of healthy food such as permaculture fields and fisheries, and improving quality of life in areas affected by climate injustices. However, offsetting happens through the carbon market, which is complicated and largely un­regu­la­ted. Consequently, investigations conducted by journalists and ­legal teams have revealed that many offsetting schemes are unreliable and potentially overstate their benefits.

For ­those interested in offsetting, consider a few best practices when choosing offsets. In 2009 the David Suzuki Foundation in Canada published a list of criteria for choosing offsets that is still relevant ­today. The list includes the following:

• Additionality. The offset proj­ect must not be able to be implemented without the incentives arising from the offset market. In other words, the reductions cannot be reductions that would have happened in the “business as usual” scenario.
• Accurate quantification. Rec­ords must be kept of the emissions reduced or avoided by the proj­ect.
• Third-­party auditing. The proj­ect requires validation and verification by a reputable third party.
• Unique owner­ship. Clear ­parameters must be in place regarding who owns the emissions reductions so ­there is no double counting.
• Permanence. The proj­ect must have a permanent climate reduction effect. For instance, if the proj­ect involves tree planting, it is impor­tant to ensure the trees are in a protected area in perpetuity and that ­there is a replant ­budget in place in case ­those trees burn down or die of disease.
• Leakage. The proj­ect should not displace emissions elsewhere. For instance, if the proj­ect involves protecting forests, it cannot be shifting logging rights to another plot of forest elsewhere; it must protect forestland and reduce overall logging rights.
• Sustainability. Offsetting proj­ects should comply with all relevant social and environmental regulations and should have no negative social or environmental impacts (for example, overstepping Indigenous sovereignty).
• Stakeholder consultation. The proj­ect man­ag­ers must consult local communities and gain the support of key stakeholders.

Sports for Climate Action

The largest effort to reduce emissions across the sport sector is the United Nations’ Sports for Climate Action Framework, which is built on five princi­ples:

1. Princi­ple 1: Undertake systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility.
2. Princi­ple 2: Reduce overall climate impact.
3. Princi­ple 3: Educate for climate action.
4. Princi­ple 4: Promote sustainable and responsible consumption.
5. Princi­ple 5: Advocate for climate action through communication.

As of 2021, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change called on signatories of the Sports for Climate Action framework to also join the UN’s Race to Zero, which encourages signatories to reduce emissions by half by 2030 and drop to net zero (which means 90% reduction) by 2040.

Mitigation efforts are tricky for some sport ­organizations that rely on energy-­intensive buildings and lots of international travel, but recent research suggests major improvements are pos­si­ble. One study by researchers at Concordia University in Montréal found that North American professional men’s sports (NFL, NHL, NBA, and MLB) could achieve reductions of up to 22 ­percent by adopting some of the same travel policies they employed during the COVID-19 pandemic (Wynes, 2021). ­These strategies include canceling overseas games, arranging league schedules by region, and increasing the number of consecutive games between teams. Of course, in a sector driven by a profit imperative (Chen, 2022), it can be challenging to convince owner­ship groups and league offices to forgo the extra revenues from international growth plans in the name of sustainability.

More Excerpts From International Sport Management-3rd Edition

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