The football industry needs to wake up to the climate emergency | The Guardian

The coronavirus pandemic has given us a chance to reimagine the congested calendar. We need to take itBy Tim Walters for The BlizzardLast November Jürgen Klopp criticised the “crazy” demands made on top footballers, who can find themselves with only two weeks off a year from a job that is physically and mentally gruelling. He said football administrators should “think about the players and not about their wallet.” The Liverpool manager is right, of course, but there is a more pressing reason why the authorities need to curtail their expansionist tendencies: our planet cannot sustain it.As is the case for many of us, the people who run football are apparently in an ominous state of denial about the climate emergency. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that we need to transition to a decarbonised world rapidly, hitting global greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets of 45% by 2030 and complete carbon neutrality by 2050. But not all carbon footprints are created equal in our unequal world and, since some are easier to reduce than others, those of us in disproportionately polluting countries will have to reduce our carbon footprints by 90% within a decade. Doing so will demand a radical transformation of every feature of society, including football. Continue reading…

The coronavirus pandemic has given us a chance to reimagine the congested calendar. We need to take it

By Tim Walters for The Blizzard

Last November Jürgen Klopp criticised the “crazy” demands made on top footballers, who can find themselves with only two weeks off a year from a job that is physically and mentally gruelling. He said football administrators should “think about the players and not about their wallet.” The Liverpool manager is right, of course, but there is a more pressing reason why the authorities need to curtail their expansionist tendencies: our planet cannot sustain it.

As is the case for many of us, the people who run football are apparently in an ominous state of denial about the climate emergency. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear that we need to transition to a decarbonised world rapidly, hitting global greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets of 45% by 2030 and complete carbon neutrality by 2050. But not all carbon footprints are created equal in our unequal world and, since some are easier to reduce than others, those of us in disproportionately polluting countries will have to reduce our carbon footprints by 90% within a decade. Doing so will demand a radical transformation of every feature of society, including football.

Continue reading…