SPORT’S RACE AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE

Flooding, droughts, cancelled fixtures and rising energy costs have turned environmental sustainability from a corporate responsibility issue into an operational necessity. The UK sport sector – from governing bodies, facility operators and clubs to venues – is responding to the challenges posed by the changing climate, but the scale of the challenge could demand faster and more inventive action

RACE CLIMATE AGAINST

raditionally, the environmental debates and discussions within sports have largely centred on the industry’s own impact: international travel, energy-intensive venues, disposable merchandise and the waste generated by major events. Increasingly, however, there has been a realisation that the relationship works in both directions. Sport contributes to climate change, but changing weather patterns are also impacting on (and damaging) the facilities, finances and participation on which the sector depends.

Financial impact

One of the clearest assessments of climate change’s effects on UK sport arrived in 2025, when the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) published its wider-ranging Exploring the Financial Implications of Climate Change on Grassroots Sport report. Drawing on work involving the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS), governing bodies and grassroots organisations, it estimated that adverse and extreme weather currently imposes an annual financial burden of around £320m on field-based community sport. Around £200m of that relates to maintenance and repairs, with a further £120m lost through cancelled matches, abandoned sessions and facility closures.

The report cautions that the entire figure cannot be attributed solely to climate change, because adverse weather has always affected outdoor sport. However, it concludes that a proportion of the existing burden is climate-related and that costs are likely to increase as temperatures rise.

Under its central scenarios, the annual impact could grow by around £95m in a world 2°C warmer and by approximately £188m under 4°C of warming.

The cost of disruption

The threat is already visible. Flooding, intense rainfall, drought and heatwaves are damaging facilities, degrading playing surfaces and forcing activities to be cancelled. The Football Association (FA) estimates that 120,000 grassroots football matches are lost each year, while one-third of community pitches are already unplayable for two months annually. Research published by Sport England in 2025 found that 62% of adults and 63% of secondary-age children said extreme weather had caused them to do less physical activity during the previous 12 months. The findings suggest that sustainability is not just an environmental issue. It is a participation, public-health and financial-resilience issue.

62% of adults and 63% of secondary age children said extreme weather had caused them to do less physical activity during the previous 12 months

Clubs operating on narrow margins face rising maintenance costs at the same time as cancellations remove income from subscriptions, bookings, hospitality and secondary spending. If those costs are passed on to players, the government report warns that grassroots sport could become less accessible and increasingly elitist.

The same pattern is evident at elite sport – and on the international stage. More than 100 athletes required treatment for heat-related illness at Tokyo 2020, while concerns over water quality disrupted Olympic triathlon preparations in the Seine at Paris 2024. At the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympics, unusually warm conditions and melting snow forced timetable changes and raised safety concerns. Climate resilience is now part of athlete welfare and event delivery, rather than a distant sustainability ambition.

From ambition to obligation

The increased awareness of the impact of environmental issues has solicited policy responses which are beginning to gather momentum. In December 2025, the seventh UN Environment Assembly adopted its first resolution focused on promoting sustainable solutions through sport. It called on governments and sports organisations to integrate sustainability into national strategies, physical education and community programmes, while reducing sport’s environmental impact.

In England, few senior sports leaders have argued the case for sustainability more consistently than Sport England chair Chris Boardman. His position is that environmental sustainability cannot be separated from Sport England’s central purpose of increasing participation.

Policy

Environmental sustainability and sports participation are two sides of the same coin, without the former, we will lose the latter

“Environmental sustainability and sports participation are two sides of the same coin,” Boardman said in October 2025. “Without the former, we will lose the latter.”

“We need to bin the myth that we are helpless in the face of this big global challenge, and geopolitical struggle. Let’s ditch the doom. We’re not powerless – we’re packed with potential.”

He has also described sport as possessing a “unique global megaphone”, capable of inspiring behavioural change through its network of clubs, facilities, governing bodies, athletes and supporters. That philosophy is now being backed by funding and accountability.

Sport England’s Every Move strategy was supported by more than £45m of National Lottery investment, alongside the £80m Swimming Pool Support Fund created with the government to improve the environmental and financial sustainability of public pools. More than 570 interventions are under way, including solar installations, energy-efficiency measures and outdoor spaces designed to cope more effectively with flooding.

Sport England has also reserved up to £16m – 10% of its £160m Movement Fund – for environmental projects. Clubs and activity groups can apply for grants of between £300 and £15,000 to address carbon emissions, waste, biodiversity and climate adaptation. Eligible measures include solar panels, battery systems, reductions in single-use plastic, better drainage and improved surface-water management.

At elite level, UK Sport raised the ambition further in April 2026 by setting a target for British high-performance sport to have a net-positive environmental impact by 2040. The aim moves beyond simply reducing or balancing emissions and towards leaving venues, training environments and natural spaces in better condition. UK Sport says it has already helped more than 30 Olympic and Paralympic sports develop sustainability plans, halved its own travel emissions and reduced domestic flights by 80% during 2024-25.

“Net zero matters – but it’s only the base camp,” Boardman said when the new approach was launched. ”If sport is going to thrive, from community all the way to the elite, we need stronger, more resilient places to train and compete. Get this right and the same practical steps that protect the environment also protect performance: that’s a win sport can’t afford to ignore.”

Practical innovation

As well as the efforts at international, national and policy level, the sports sector is responding to the challenges on the frontline. Some of the most encouraging developments are relatively simple and replicable.

At community-owned Bath City FC, University of Bath engineering students used the club’s energy data to identify affordable improvements and develop a long-term decarbonisation roadmap. Replacing outdated floodlights with LEDs is expected to save around 1.25 tonnes of carbon dioxide and £1,250 each year. The wider plan proposes solar panels, battery storage, an air-source heat pump and EV charging, with the potential to reduce emissions by 75% and save more than £500,000 over 15 years.

The partnership model is as important as the technology. Many grassroots clubs cannot afford specialist sustainability consultants, but may have universities, colleges or skilled local businesses nearby. English Premier League club Newcastle United has applied a similar collaborative approach to textile waste. In January 2026, the club and Northumbria University unveiled a fashion collection created from surplus and unsellable shirts. The garments, including a bomber jacket, dress and joggers, used returned kit and shirts carrying the names or numbers of players who had left the club. They were then auctioned to support Newcastle United Foundation.

The concept is transferable to clubs, schools, leisure operators and governing bodies that routinely accumulate obsolete kit, uniforms, banners and event materials. Repair, resale, donation and remanufacturing should become standard options before recycling or disposal.

Running is also challenging some of its most wasteful traditions. The Green Runners has developed resources covering travel, kit, food and event organisation and is working on a Greener Races scheme. Its recommended measures include kit swaps, reusable signage, cupless aid stations, car-sharing incentives, public transport information and allowing entrants to decline shirts, medals and goodie bags.

Policy

Football’s ability to turn sustainable behaviour into competition is being tested by Planet League. Fans score points for their clubs by completing actions such as eating vegetarian meals, leaving the car at home, recycling or reducing household energy use. The platform has worked with more than 80 professional clubs and recorded almost 250,000 verified actions.

It offers a useful model for grassroots sport, where travel by players, parents and spectators is one of the largest sources of emissions. Amateur leagues could promote lift-sharing, coordinate team transport, schedule fixtures geographically and include public transport information in match communications.

Liverpool FC demonstrates what sustained operational work can achieve at scale. The club says 96% of the energy used across its sites comes from renewable or low-carbon sources

Liverpool FC demonstrates what sustained operational work can achieve at scale. The club says 96% of the energy used across its sites comes from renewable or low-carbon sources. Its Anfield plastic-collection programme has also recycled more than one million bottles over three seasons, while the club has removed a range of single-use food-service items and made the Anfield playing surface recyclable.

Lower down the football pyramid, Leicester Nirvana FC is working with De Montfort University towards becoming the UK’s first net-zero amateur football club. Its planned solar and battery system is expected to reduce reliance on grid electricity by 53%.

Meanwhile, London Stadium has installed 6,500 square metres of advanced solar membrane panels, fully integrated into the iconic stadium’s roof. It is the largest investment in solar panels for any stadium in the UK. The energy produced will power all major events – including West Ham United matches, world-class concerts, and international athletics – making London Stadium one of the world leading venues for solar energy coverage.

At Whalley Range Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club in Manchester, sustainability has involved planting trees, rewilding underused land, reducing mowing and protecting organisms that improve soil structure and water absorption. The work has reduced flooding, fuel consumption and soil erosion while supporting biodiversity.

Normalising actions

The challenge is now to turn these examples into normal practice. Every club and venue should understand both its carbon footprint and its climate risk: where emissions originate, which assets are vulnerable and what disruption would cost. There is also legislation to consider. One of these is the 2021 Environment Act, which introduced Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), mandating that most developments, including sport and leisure facilities, must achieve a minimum of a 10% net increase in biodiversity.

Travel, facility energy and water consumption are primary areas to tackle, as they combine substantial environmental impact with opportunities for long-term financial savings.

New and refurbished facilities should also be designed around whole-life carbon, drainage, overheating, water scarcity, biodiversity and the eventual reuse or recycling of materials.

Governing bodies and funders can accelerate change by embedding sustainability into grants, procurement and competition standards.

Support must remain proportionate, however. Small, volunteer-led clubs need templates, trusted suppliers, shared expertise and access to capital rather than another complicated reporting burden.

There is no single technology or policy capable of making sport sustainable. Progress will no doubt come through thousands of decisions: from fans sharing journeys to clubs installing efficient lighting, retaining rainwater, using renewable energy sources and cutting out plastics.

Sport’s greatest advantage is its reach. Clubs are trusted institutions, athletes influence behaviour and supporters are accustomed to acting collectively. The task is to turn that collective power into practical action – while ensuring that the pitches, pools, courts, tracks, rivers and landscapes on which sport depends remain fit to play on.