Every competition, race, and medal must justify itself, beyond simply adding to the growing annals of sports history. If not, our failure to act would go down in history as humanity’s most calamitous own goal, Isabel Schatzschneider writes.
ADVERTISEMENTThe toxic dust is barely settling in the wake of 2024’s Super Bowl — or rather, the "Super Polluter", whose advertising alone released as much carbon dioxide as 100,000 Americans.
But millions more sporting fans are now gearing up to pump the atmosphere with more poison by travelling to the ultra-toxic F1 races, as well as the 2024 Euros and Paris Olympics.
While the EU has targeted sectors in construction, energy, food, and transport to achieve its ambitious climate goals — the carbon footprint linked to travel and advertising for sporting events is being overlooked.
Yes, steps are being taken by the sports industry to go green — for instance, droves of sporting bodies used COP28 in Dubai to focus on their plans for sustainability.
Even the European football governing body UEFA said it was aiming to make the Euros the most sustainable European Championship of all time.
But it’s time to get real.
Pledging to 'go green' is far from enough
It’s been estimated the inflated 2024-25 UEFA football fixtures, culminating in the Euros hosted across Germany — will lead to teams and their fans racking up around two billion air miles — equal to over 4,000 return journeys to the Moon or almost half a million tonnes of greenhouse emissions.
And this greenwashing is not limited to UEFA.
Organisers of this summer’s Paris Olympics are touting it as the “greenest ever Games” – only this month they declared a new environmental precedent by using existing or temporary venues for most events and focusing on low-carbon building for the others.
But their efforts are a losing battle against the uncomfortable reality that 15.3 million — more than double Paris’ normal occupancy — will be using a toxic combination of transportation methods to visit the capital of France this August.
Considering the sheer magnitude and urgency of the climate crisis, world leaders must take the radical step of stamping sports spectacles with green legislation before it is too late.
After all, it’s been proven time and time again that trying to guilt people into leading the drive for sustainability does not work. This is why sports organisers' vows to "go green" must be anchored in globally agreed laws which monitor and control their rampant carbon footprints.
No one is trying to be a killjoy
European Union policies on creating “safe, sustainable and connected” transport must now be used as the inspiration for imposing transport restrictions on these escalating global gatherings (just consider FIFA’s 2026 World Cup hosted in 16 cities and three countries).
The proposal is straightforward: implement fixed carbon emission quotas for all major sports events. Fans and teams would have their air miles — and personal and collective carbon outputs — rationed. Sports events organisers and stadiums must also be issued with emission caps and goals to make their stadiums more sustainable.
Of course, there will be the loud and inevitable eruption of outcry and chants of “killjoys” from the fans who view these spectacles as life-or-death events.
But to get fans onboard, world leaders must also show the public in no uncertain terms why sports event rationing is being done.
Advertising the carbon footprints of sporting events as prominently as health warnings on cigarette packets — or calorie counts on menus and alcohol units on drinks — is also a key step into making this legislation part of sustainable sports.
Just like with smoking or alcohol, people must be warned to travel responsibly — or not at all.
ADVERTISEMENTMeasures to ration transport and emissions around sporting events are not aimed at dampening the spirit of sports — but about safeguarding the planet for future generations to responsibly revel in them.
They would also make necessity the mother of invention, and force sports bodies to come up with sustainable innovations for stadiums and transport.
The change must therefore be branded correctly — as “eco-conscious participation” — to keep sceptical fans onside.
We need to learn how to play responsibly
After all, there is huge potential for the world’s €500 billion-plus sports industry to use its money and international might to make huge and vital sustainability changes in line with global climate goals.
For example, at the same COP summit where sports organizers pledged their green allegiance, 197 countries signed the historic UAE Consensus — a lodestar for global climate action which gives clear direction to countries and industries alike — on how to keep 1.5°C within reach by “transitioning away” from fossil fuels, tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, and transforming global climate finance.
ADVERTISEMENTBut as COP President Dr Sultan Al-Jaber recently said at the International Energy Association in Paris, “governments and all relevant parties [must] be honest and transparent about the costs and trade-offs involved” in achieving such a goal.
Across the board, this means that government, industries, and individuals will have to make sacrifices to avert planet-ending warming — ending immunity for parties which have long resisted change.
Of course, transforming the sporting industry won’t be easy. But the ultimate goal is simpler: the creation of a sustainable future where the thrill of sport and the health of our planet are in harmony.
Every competition, race, and medal must justify itself, beyond simply adding to the growing annals of sports history.
If not, our failure to act would go down in history as humanity’s most calamitous own goal.
ADVERTISEMENTIsabel Schatzschneider is an environmental activist and commentator on EU environment policy. She is a Research Associate at the Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nüremberg, and a former researcher at the Schweisfurth Foundation in Munich.
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