Green Sports. The heat is on Sports Organizations to address climate crisis.

• What is the role of sports organizations in society? Should these organizations be responsible for the way their activities impact the lives of their athletes, fans and workers, the health of the environment, and the communities it relies on or sources from?

Without doubt, there has never been a moment as opportune as now to start talking about the connection between the sports business and climate change.

During 2020, within the economic, social, political, and public health disasters we encountered, corporate sustainability continued to move forward, even in the sports industry. Indeed, somewhat unexpected, these crises put a spotlight on the value of environmental considerations among athletes, fans, supporters, and club managers. Thanks to the pandemic, now, the idea of fast, large-scale, global actions, seems more than just a dream.

As a result, leading sports organizations have publicly recognized climate change as an opportunity. A growing number of Clubs, Leagues and Federations are taking steps to reinforce their resilience to climate impacts, reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, produce innovative low-carbon technologies, and support policies enabling a smooth transition to a low-carbon economy.

Already, climate change has displaced over 22.5 million people; more than 800 million people lack sufficient food; and over one million animal species are facing extinction. The climate emergency is a present-day reality and there are many risks related to climate change impacts that affect the private sector, including sports:

Risks of climate change to business (United Nations Climate Change): 

• Physical risks include damage to physical assets, such as real estate and equipment, resulting from climate change impacts. This includes both rapid onset impacts, such as floods or heatwaves, or slow onset impacts, such as temperature rise or sea level rise.
• Price risk arises from climate change impacts on the prices of raw materials and commodities more broadly.
• Regulation risk refers to potential business impacts resulting from the actions governments take to combat climate change, including new regulations that impose added costs of business or the withdrawal of subsidies.
• Reputation risk arises when the public perceives a company's or industry's actions as harmful or inadequate in the context of climate change. It encompasses the risk of a loss of profits through boycotts, damaged investor relationships, or other developments stemming from a company's action or inaction on climate change.
• Liability risks arise when individuals, businesses, governments, or other actors seek compensation from a company for losses suffered as a result of a company's alleged contribution to the problem of climate change or their failure to adapt their practices. This might include investors seeking compensation for losses when a company fails to account for or disclose climate change risks.

Hands down, climate change impacts, along with changes in regulatory and business landscapes, pose significant risks to sports organizations all around the world. Thus, sports organizations must start investing now to manage these risks and ensure the long-term viability of their business.

It is becoming impossible to deny the devastating effects that climate change is having on our industry, so successful sports organizations will be those that are able to adapt to and thrive through this transformation.

To that effect, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) developed three key steps that organizations can take to build business climate resilience: 

1. Develop and maintain ambitious mitigation efforts. If an organization makes progress in its mitigation efforts, it becomes less vulnerable to disruptive risks, such as policy and legal measures, resource scarcity or adverse market developments.
2. Adapt to ensure business continuity in the face of climate-related physical risks. Organizations must assess and evaluate climate-related physical risks throughout their operations, supply chains and across the communities in which they operate.
3. Assess the connections, needs and value to society and nature. The connections, dependencies and interrelationships between climate and society, climate and nature and climate and sustainable development will increase public pressure on the true purpose of business activities and the role of business in society.

There are so many problems in our world today that need solving. Though, I firmly believe in sports business as a force for good, if its purpose is not merely to achieve sportive success but to serve the community and satisfy social needs sustainably.

The global urgency for sports organizations to play a bigger role regarding climate change is difficult to ignore.