Can sport find a new way to affect climate change?

For a long time, climate change and its effects were seen as a foreign concept, with very few able to understand the effects and relate them to current events. Some may ask how does gaming affect our climate? Does two boxers exchanging punches in the ring affect the climate?

According to the European Union’s European Climate Pact, the relationship between sport and climate can be described as complicated: on the one hand, emissions from sport make a significant contribution to climate change, but on the other hand, heat waves and other meteorological phenomena extremes negatively affect competitions and influence the health and performance of athletes.

Big sporting events attract fans from all over the world who come to watch and celebrate their favorite players, thereby generating massive amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is one of the greenhouse gases. The recent Riyadh Season Boxing Show held at London’s Wembley Stadium hosted the highly anticipated fight night between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

Attendance exceeded 95,000, with huge carbon footprints. Carbon footprints measure the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by a person’s activities, including travel, energy use and the amount of waste generated.

Some participants flew in and out of the country to attend the match, generating and leaving significant amounts of waste during the event. On average, each person generates about 14 kg (30 lbs) of CO2 per day, contributing to the total level of CO2 in the atmosphere and impacting climate change.

Former Slovenian Climate Pact ambassador and Olympic kayaker Urša Kragelj urges fellow athletes to take part in climate action: “First, support an issue that is dear to your heart. Talk to your institutions and organizations and try to make a change, such as reducing waste at events.”

While no prominent boxer is currently advocating climate change specifically, numerous athletes across sports are leveraging their influence to bring environmental concerns into the spotlight. For example, long-distance swimmer Lewis Pugh, who is the UN’s patron of the oceans, swam in vulnerable ecosystems to draw attention to the effects of climate change.

The bodies of the world begin to act; Swissnex for the Planet, an initiative to explore a new form of diplomacy focused on rebalancing human and non-human interests on this planet, organized the Climate Ring, a pop-up boxing arena for the fight of the century: the one for planet Earth.

Resembling a 12-round boxing match, the Climate ring, presented by Swissnex, saw more than 75 global speakers step into a boxing ring in New York’s East Village to join the fight of the century: the fight for our planet.

From 25 to 27 September, the event welcomed heavyweights and rising stars from education, research, innovation and the arts, highlighting Swiss contributions to global efforts to combat climate change. An article on their website revealed that over the course of twelve rounds, presenters tackled climate change from all angles – from fashion to food systems and sustainable aviation to coastal adaptation.

“We were inspired by the boxing metaphor because it represents many of the same qualities we need to take to climate change: persistence and resilience in the face of setbacks and the ability to adapt under pressure. To represent that fighting spirit, we decided to host our events in a real boxing ring,” said Benjamin Bollmann, CEO of Swissnex in Boston and New York.

Time to start the conversation? Rightly so, all other actors are beginning to take action to reduce the harmful effects of their actions on climate change. We need to speak up and get more boxers, promoters and sponsors on stage to advocate for climate action, to reduce the impact of boxing as a sport on greenhouse gas emissions and other adverse effects on climate and human health.