The Premier League is being urged to take “rapid action” to help combat climate change as clubs brace themselves to play at the height of the UK’s second heatwave of the summer this weekend.
Experts are predicting that temperatures in the UK could reach ‘lethal’ levels in the coming days, with the mercury expected to hit 35 degrees in some areas. The Met Office has issued an extreme heat weather warning, but soaring temperatures won’t prevent Premier League matches from taking place. It will, however, have a major impact on how they are played.
After being contacted by concerned clubs, the Premier League has decided to implement mandatory one-minute drink breaks in each half of all games this weekend. Drink breaks have not been seen in the top flight since the summer of 2020, when games took place in the middle of summer following a forced break due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The move is a sensible one, which should go some way to helping the players cope with unprecedented heat on the pitch. But it is merely a short-term move to help manage the issue and is not part of a long-term solution to combat the overall problem: climate change.
The UN’s climate science body says we are currently living in the hottest period for 125,000 years, with the world having warmed by 1.1C since the industrial era began. The Met Office estimates that periods of extreme heat have been made 10 times more likely because of climate change. All of that means that, like everything else, Premier League matches are going to have to adapt and make changes.
Dale Vince is chairman of Forest Green Rovers, who were named as the world’s first UN certified carbon-neutral football club in 2018. He is leading the fight for increased sustainability in football and believes the current weather should be sounding alarm bells.
"Sport is not immune from the effects of climate change, far from it,” he told Mirror Football . “This year's World Cup [in Qatar] will give us a glimpse of the future, playing football in 40 degrees heat. Water breaks are the least of the adaptations we will need to make. That’s why it’s vital that sport uses its voice to argue for rapid action to get to net zero."
Claire Poole, founder of Sport Positive, agrees. “As the climate crisis worsens, we will only see more of these super hot days and all levels of sport will have to adapt to prioritise the health and wellbeing of players and participants,” she said.
“Cooling breaks are just one aspect of this – in the heatwave last month we saw cricket shortening play, football match kick-off times pushed back and football training sessions moved forward to avoid the hottest part of the day and horse racing meets abandoned. As well as adapting and reacting to the circumstances, sports organisations must also urgently take proactive climate action to reduce impacts on the environment."
Russell Seymour, chief executive at the British Association for Sustainable Sport, believes water breaks should be implemented across all recreational football as weekends like the upcoming one become less and less of an outlier.
"The issue with heat isn’t to do with how fit you are, it is to do with whether or not you can lose excess body heat by sweating," Seymour said. "The hotter it is the harder it becomes to lose heat and the more you sweat. Heat illness can become a medical emergency in severe cases so anything that prevents harm to footballers at all levels has to be good.
"We are likely to see more hot days at the start and end of the football season in future years because of climate change, so having sensible plans in place to allow for water breaks makes sense."
Climate change is not just about extreme heat. A recent report by Football for Future warned that a quarter of England's professional clubs could be underwater by 2050 if no action is taken, with Stamford Bridge, the London Stadium and St. Mary’s among those at risk. Meanwhile, the average grassroots pitch in England already loses five weeks a season to bad weather.
The Premier League has recognised the need for action. In November, it joined the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, which will see the organisation aim to reduce its emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. “The Premier League recognises the need to take action on climate change and is committed to reducing its overall climate impact,” the league said in a statement.
“The Premier League is in the process of developing an environmental sustainability strategy, which will set out plans to deliver climate action and address other priority issues including biodiversity and managing resources sustainably. As part of this strategy, which is due to launch later this year, the League will continue to engage with and work alongside clubs and partners, to find practical ways of reducing football’s environmental impact.”
