POLITICAL issue- Sport and the Environment Flashcards
What were the main objectives of this lecture?
To understand the relationship between sport and the environment
Understand environmental issues and initiatives in sport
Learn the two approaches to sport environmentalism+ learn how to CRITICALLY ANALYSE
What’s the relationship between sports and the environment?
Inherently connected.
C02 emissions- carbon footprints through flying
Resource consumption- water, electricity ect
Waste- bicycles, balls- sports products/ material objects create WASTE
Marine plastic production with golf balls.
What happened at the 2021 UEFA final?
UEFA Champions League Final- 2 English teams flew 1,000 miles to Porto,
Supporters travelled by air, and for the past nine finals fans air travel has generated 133kt of C02
What has been the influence of climate change on sports?
WINTER OLYMPICS- of 21 olympic venues only a few remain and will be able to host.
Sochi Russia no longer available/ less likely due to less snow.
What has the IOC done in relation to environmental concerns?
1992- Albertville Olympics- environmental disaster- After the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France had left a devastating impact on the environment: once heavily forested areas and their abundant wildlife were destroyed to make room for new sports infrastructure.
1994- Environmentalism- third pillar of Olympism
1996- Olympic charter added a section on SUSTAINABILITY
What are the two main approaches to sports environmentalism?
LIGHT GREEN APPROACHES- a softer approach, usually related to businesses, trying to remove obstacles
and
DARK GREEN APPROACHES- disruptive, wholly for the environment, solutions to obstacles and fundamental changes
Give examples of sports that have looked towards environmental concerns?
NHL in North America- NHL Green sustainability initiative in 2011.
Gallons for goals- donated 1,000 gallons of water per goal.
EPL- ‘Green League Table’- PL clubs show stats on a range of factors, created by the UN.
Tokyo 2020- had a goal of carbon zero,
- Identify
- Try avoid
- If can’t reduce AND
- Offset
LIGHT GREEN APPROACHES?
A triple bottom line: the three P’s.
Sports Management environmentalism
Powerful Actors- TNC’s international corporations
Going green for a business purpose and profits
Public-Private partnerships- a triple bottom line (envioronmatal, social and ECONOMIC= PLANET, PEOPLE AND PROFITS)
Technology orientated
DARK GREEN APPROACHES?
Critical approaches, critique ideological modernisation
Sustainability OVER growth, development and profit
From an environmental standpoint
What’s an argument against Light Green approaches?
- Periphery adjustment- carbon offsetting, water restoration= minor changes that don’t affect general operations
- Purposeful ambiguity- green promises in olympic bids- abstract/ vague on purpose
- Greenwashing rhetoric vs practice.
What is ecological modernisation?
A form of CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTALISM
Corporations develop their own practices and further invest in their technologies to increase environmentalism and profits.
eg: NASCAR’s biofuel E15 fuel, decrease greenhouse emmisons and demonstrate technological advancements
“Ecological modernisation refers to a perspective that suggests societies can reduce ecological impact through rationalisation, industrialisation, and changes in coordinative structures while maintaining economic growth.”
Critique ecological modernisation?
BUT- is it a shield from more viable, proactive approaches?
Is it another form of greenwashing so that companies can present themselves as environmentally conscious?
How do light and dark green approaches work?
On a CONTINUUM- approaches usually place themselves somewhere in the middle between the two.
What’s one example of a manufactured sports product that causes waste?
Szto and Wilson (2023) (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10126902221138033) illustrate the environmental impacts of sporting goods (bicycles) in their life cycle and point out unsustainable practices (e.g., planned obsolescence) built into the capitalist mode of production and marketing, as well as potential, alternative practices (e.g., a circular economy) as a way forward.
What is planned obsolesce?
The concept of policies planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life or a purposely frail design, so that it becomes obsolete after a certain predetermined period of time upon.
The rationale behind this strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases. It is the deliberate shortening of the lifespan of a product to force people to purchase functional replacements.
What is a circular economy?
The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended. In practice, it implies reducing waste to a minimum.
