爆料社区

听

For Kiwi sport and recreation organisations already reeling from the impact of severe weather events, being asked to step up and play their part to reduce global warming will likely be a daunting prospect.

Emma Pocock, the founder and chief executive of Australian climate advocacy group , had some helpful advice for sector leaders at 爆料社区鈥檚 Connections 2023 conference who find themselves in that exact position: start simple.

The first 鈥� vital 鈥� step was to get buy-in for climate action from the key figures within an organisation.

鈥淛ust getting a run on the board can be enough to get that buy-in that you need,鈥� said Pocock who works alongside her partner, former Wallaby Captain, and now Senator for the ACT, David Pocock, on various projects and building a public profile for good through sport.

鈥淲hat we find is that often actually taking some of those early steps on climate are financially beneficial in the medium and long term. A local cricket club, for example, adding solar to their facilities and having batteries could actually save them a lot of money once you do the projections over the medium and long term.鈥�

Born from the smouldering embers of Australia鈥檚 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, Frontrunners provides support and guidance for athletes and sporting organisations seeking to play their part in tackling climate change.

In response to the bushfires, Frontrunners launched its campaign asking athletes to sign an open letter calling for climate action. It was hoping for 50 signatures 鈥� but would have settled for a couple of dozen.

However, as Canberra suffered through two months of the worst air quality on the planet 鈥� forcing its sports teams such as the Raiders and Brumbies to relocate for pre-season training and the cancellation of Big Bash cricket matches 鈥� Australia鈥檚 sports stars backed the campaign in their droves, with over 450 having now signed up.

Beyond the obscured lines of the playing fields, the bushfires that created an eerie orange glow in the skies as far away as Auckland, caused across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.

鈥淲e all know what climate breakdown looks like, we know what it feels like,鈥� Pocock said.

鈥淲e had so many athletes getting in touch saying 鈥榯his seems pretty bad 鈥� what should we be doing about it鈥�?

鈥淲e had this amazing opportunity to take all of that energy, all of that curiosity, and that real desire from athletes to be doing something and turn it into an organisation that now supports athletes and sporting organisations to tackle the climate crisis.

鈥淏ut this shouldn鈥檛 be the preserve of courageous athletes. This is one of the single greatest challenges of our time. And it is a challenge that makes sense for sport to take on. Athletes want it. Fans want it. There are legitimate risks to sport in failing to address it. The scales have well and truly switched to the side of action.

鈥淎 key barrier to athlete advocacy is that many sports organisations don鈥檛 know how to tackle this issue. They don鈥檛 understand why they should, or they can鈥檛 get support from those who govern their sport or their club.鈥�

Frontrunners suggests a five-point action plan for sporting organisations to begin tackling climate change:听

听

鈥淲e have a long, long way to go on climate and the stakes couldn鈥檛 be higher,鈥� Pocock said.

鈥淭he 2022 [Inter-governmental panel on Climate Change] was pretty clear across the board that we are walking when we should be sprinting. That is true of sport. But we are seeing that change pretty rapidly.

鈥淲e have historically talked about climate as something that is going to affect future generations. We don鈥檛 really think about how it touches our lives 鈥� even in the midst of a natural disaster that is being fuelled by climate change.鈥�

That mindset changes, though, when climate impacts start to affect the things we hold dear, Pocock said.

鈥淎nd in New Zealand and Australia, sport is pretty high up there in terms of things that we love.鈥�

Hear more in the full presentation video >