In a recent speech, UN secretary-general António Guterres called upon “every country to ban advertising from fossil fuel companies”. He urged the professional services and creative industries to “stop taking on new fossil fuel clients, from today, and set out plans to drop your existing ones”.
One sector that Guterres omitted from his speech was sport. This is somewhat surprising given recent trends in sponsorship and ownership within the industry that been have tracked through my work with colleagues at the campaign Badvertising and the Cool Down - Sport for Climate Action Network.
The past few years have seen sport deepen its ties with fossil fuel companies, with banks that continue to finance fossil fuel projects, and with states that are heavily invested in the continued dominance of fossil fuels. Billboards surrounding pitches, team shirts and tournament naming rights are peppered with the names and logos of SUV manufacturers, airlines and cruise ships.
