Why "Sports x Environment x SDGs"? What relation must sports have? Some may wonder this.
This is because I have the idea that "Saving opportunities of athletes working hard for their goals from the climate crisis is directly related to saving people like essential workers working in severe environments, as well as all people in the world."
I have a personal experience that makes me say this confidently. When I was in high school, my high school baseball club played a heated and crazy semi-final of the prefectural tournament that went into extra 13 innings in the scorching heat. It was an unforgettable experience even for me, who was a supporter of the cheering squad, and was the first topic of conversation at the class reunion. Also, I have belonged to sports clubs until my high school days, and I still remember practicing in the heat of midsummer.
Based on this personal experience, the first persona that comes to mind is " high school baseball players who hustle in the games of the summer baseball tournament". It is also true that there are criticisms like "stop it" and "it's a vested interest." However, for such players, goals that they are eager to accomplish enable them do their best in rigorous practice. Nothing could be sadder than deprivation of these efforts by climate crisis.
This issue is not limited to baseball. Sports such as soccer, rugby, American football, and ekiden, that are supposedly often played in winter, are also affected by climate crisis including heatwaves. Summer is athletes’ precious season for practice and training. If this time is deprived by climate crisis, their performance will be negatively affected, which could injure them. The influence by these sports cannot be less than that of baseball. This is especially the case with American football, in which players are affected by wearing helmets and protective gear.
What will the global environment be like where athletes can keep on making efforts for their goals in good health? This must be the environment where people working in tough conditions, such as essential workers, can efforts comfortably make their best. This is also an environment where elderly people can lively enjoy their own lifestyle. The opposite is hard to imagine.
To realize this environment, it is essential to achieve the 1.5°C target set by the 2015 Paris Agreement (limiting the rise in global average temperatures to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels). On the other hand, it is also true that we have to admit that this level of temperature rise is inevitable, unfortunately. Based on this condition, it is necessary to implement both mitigation measures to curb temperature rise and adaptation ones to create the environment where people can make efforts amid temperature rise. The former is a facilitation activity for decarbonized community development. For me, the latter is developing a product from the standpoint of hydration management.
