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May 24, 2024
According to new research by Sport England, three in five adults in England say extreme weather has had a negative impact on their ability to be physically active, with one in four children being negatively impacted by canceled PE (physical education) lessons. The sporting body has therefore announced a new investment package as part of its first environmental and sustainability strategy, ‘Every Move.’ The strategy will help more people get active in nature, restore flooded sports pitches and help sports clubs become more sustainable.
“The FA has estimated that 120,000 football games will be lost each year. A third of community pitches are already unplayable for two months of the year due to flooding – and it’s only going to get worse,” said Sport England chair, Chris Boardman. “Extreme weather is increasingly making it difficult for us to live healthy, active lives by creating a ‘doom loop’ where people become less motivated and more fearful of injury, with sporting opportunities increasingly canceled and disrupted.”
The Met Office, the UK’s national weather and climate service, showed that the winter of 2023-24 has been the eighth wettest on record in the UK. It predicts that winters will be 30% wetter by 2070 and rainfall will be 25% more intense and violent. Sport England’s research shows that three in 10 adults and a third of children and young people are expected to reduce their activity levels over the next five years if extreme weather patterns continue.
According to a 2020 report, if global temperatures increase by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, we risk irreversible impacts on sport and physical activity. For instance, 50% of past venues of the Winter Olympics wouldn’t be able to hold them again, and a quarter of English Football League grounds can expect temporary or permanent flooding by 2050. Additionally, vulnerable communities in society have been shown to be the most affected negatively by climate change.
Sport England’s ‘Every Move’ strategy connects participation, inequalities and environmental issues to holistic solutions that will ensure a more sustainable sports sector. It not only wishes to reverse the environmental impact of the sports sector but also mitigate and adapt to climate change in a way that reduces inequalities and builds resilience.
A total of £45 million will be used to deliver operations, support and advocacy. This includes flood prevention, reducing pollution, enhancing biodiversity and enabling the recycling of sports clothing and equipment to benefit grassroots clubs and participants most in need.
The strategy commits to work with partners and stakeholders to ensure end-of-life recycling for all newly funded replacement artificial grass pitches from June 2024 as a condition of funding. It also requires 130 partners and national governing bodies to have sustainability plans in place by March 2027.
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