Cricketers put their money where their mouth is on climate
By Tanya Aldred
Where governing bodies fail, individuals step up. Three cheers then for the 100 plus athletes who have joined Sport One, Carbon Zero, a new climate fund from the organisation High Impact Athletes.
Those who have signed on the dotted line to donate include four cricketers. England batter Maia Bouchier is one, alongside New Zealand wicketkeeper Polly Inglis, Otago bowler Harriet Cuttance and Perth Scorcher’s academy keeper Baxter Holt.
The idea behind the fund is that athletes, who often don’t speak out on climate issues because they don’t want to be seen as hypocrites, directly fund research into the sectors responsible for the vast majority of sports’ carbon footprint.
It is a kind of lifestyle offsetting, a worthy one while governing bodies busily sign up fossil fuel sponsors and avoid finding a more sustainable way of running sports. The fund has partnered with Giving Green, a climate philanthropy movement launched in 2019, who will do the leg work, building a portfolio focussing on travel, energy and infrastructure. If investment into cleaner aviation fuels can seem questionable - the argument is that the current set up of sport relies on flying - a structural problem that athletes themselves can do nothing about
“Travelling is part of my job and my way of life, so there is a bit of an inner conflict,” Bouchier says. “The structure of cricket depends on travel — where we go, how we prepare — and a lot of that is out of my control. We’re part of a system built on energy, travel and infrastructure. There’s also this hypocrisy trap where you don’t want to tread on people’s toes or be seen to go against the norm, even when you care about the issue.”
“What I like about this initiative is that it focuses on systemic change, which is huge. Whatever athletes donate goes to organisations we know will impact climate change, and that in itself is really positive. Over the years I think we’ll see a lot more change. The research and the solutions are there, and athletes can trust that the fund is a way to contribute to something meaningful.”
The 2019 Hit for Six report recommended that the ICC set up a global climate disaster fund, but they are yet to open that particular inbox. Instead, these young cricketers have picked up the baton themselves.
A version of this article originally appeared in The Guardian newsletter, The Spin.
Check out our chat with Maia Bouchier from earlier in the year:
