COP26 and its implications for sport

With world leaders currently meeting in the Scottish city of Glasgow to discuss the global response to climate change, sporting organisations are looking on with interest, with Paralympians and Olympians having called the COP26 meeting “the Olympics of climate summits”.

The summit, COP26, is the latest in a series of annual meetings, but this one is considered by many as the most significant yet, with a major United Nations scientific report warning that climate change is a "code red for humanity".

COP26, the 26th meeting of the conference of the parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is focussing on how countries have faced up to climate change in the past five years and what new plans will be made for the coming years.

The two-week conference, which commenced on 31st October, featuring on news agendas around the world, also has implications for sport.

Over the years, it has been established that the world needs to tackle climate change in a sustainable way. So, in 2015, world leaders made a pact under the Paris agreement to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees celsius.

However, the pace at which the implementation of climate protection policies is being drawn upon is inefficient. Thus, protests happen now and then to engage people in the conversations around the subject.

The issue is with the perspective with which climate change is seen. People think it will have effects in the coming decades, or it will affect specific sectors. However, that’s a false belief. The impact of climate change is everywhere.

Ahead of the Glasgow conference, 50 Olympians and Paralympians released a video under International Olympic Committee: urging the world leaders to take immediate steps to tackle climate change.

The participants in the video called COP26 “the Olympics of climate change”, pointing out that rising temperature, humidity, sudden weather changes are already threatening several sports.

The sports people urged world leaders to take adequate measures to help the world win the most significant battle. Additionally, 200 athletes, sports organisations are attending COP26.

The initiative is called ‘SPORTS@COP’.

How bad is climate change for sports?
One might not imagine how climate change can be a poison for sports. However, the question has to be answered. Climate change has been showcasing significant effects on sports events globally. For starters, in 2014, all outside court matches at the Australian Open were suspended due to extreme heat.

The committee used artificial snow in the Winter Olympics as the real snow was melting at the Olympic venues. Most recently, the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, 2021, was shifted due to extreme heat conditions.

Additionally, athletes complained of the harsh conditions in the “hottest ever games.”

If climate keeps worsening at the current pace, it is expected that by 2050 most English football league grounds will be flooded every year.

Climate change is one of the most significant dangers to world sports. Therefore, players globally are insisting the world leaders to take actions against climate change. Additionally, merely cutting down on greenhouse emissions might not suffice; better adaptation policies are the need of the hour.

Source: Kunal Sawhney, Kalkine Media.