46-47 LSB Sustainability in Sports 2023 (SL).qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 25/09/2023 13:07 Page 1
SUSTAINABILITY IN SPORTS
Both deeply dependent on and connected to nature, sport relies on a healthy planet. Without one, there is simply no playing field. Robert Hutchins explores the actions global sports are taking to reverse our fortunes.
Grass, roots, sports W
hat has soil health and Greta Thunberg got to do with cricket? Well, if we’re to reference the British Association of Sustainability in Sport’s Hit for Six paper, or the 2018 Climate Coalition’s Game Changer report the answer is ‘rather a lot.’ ‘Of all the major pitch sports,’ we are told, ‘cricket will be the hardest hit by climate change.’ And considering the seasonal nature of the game alongside its explicit dependency on the natural systems (sunlight, temperature, rainfall, and soil) it becomes rather obvious why. Already this spring, we saw the temperature crash through the 44ºC barrier in six Indian cities, while in the UK, Lord’s Cricket Ground is preparing for hotter summers with less rainfall during which
pitch and playing conditions will be altered drastically. Soil degradation, grass seed germination, unexpected pests or diseases affecting pitch growth – Five Live Sports reporting is going to be a very different place to what it is now. “Extreme weather is already really affecting play,” says Lydia Carrington, sustainability manager at Edgbaston Stadium, the first UK cricket ground to have received formal accreditation of its event sustainability from the British Standards Institute. “We’ve seen extreme heat in India and rainfall in England that led to so many called off games. These extremes are affecting professional and recreational levels of the sport, and this isn’t
Top: Moeen Ali goes green for Edgbaston’s major sustainability initiative for the IT20, watched by millions around the world. Above centre: Edgbaston is the first UK cricket ground to receive official accreditation for event sustainability from the British Standards Institute. Left: Fan engagement is integral at Edgbaston to keep the public onside with sustainability.
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LICENSING SPORTS BOOK 2023