Football is a climate story

Football and climate change are becoming increasingly difficult to separate. Major tournaments can generate millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, while rising temperatures and extreme weather are changing the conditions in which the game is played.

But football can also be part of the response. From grassroots clubs cutting emissions to fans calling for greater climate leadership from the sport, football has the reach to bring climate action into communities around the world.

What an unforgettable World Cup feast of football over the summer and fantastic final four teams!

The sporting extravaganza brought people together in enjoyment and celebration but has also cast a long shadow. There were moments of indefensible interference and ill-treatment, from Trump intervening to overturn a red card to barring a Somali World Cup referee to ugly scenes by losing teams. There were moments of brilliance from Bellingham to Lamine Yamal, big impacts from the likes of Cape Verde and Norway, and the highest-scoring third-place playoff. But for all the breathless excitement this tournament generated the lasting harm is one of breathtaking pollution.

Beyond what happened on the pitch, the tournament also raised a much bigger question about football and climate change: what is the environmental cost of staging an event on this scale?

The 2026 World Cup was said to be the most polluting ever. Conservative estimates of about 9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions is the same as 21 gas-fired power plants running for a year or driving 1.9 million cars for a year. For comparison, the 2024 Paris Olympics emitted one-fifth of the atmospheric pollution, around 1.8 million tonnes.

How is climate change affecting football?

Some, perhaps many, will say it was worth it. Many would also say that the ‘hydration breaks’ midway through each game broke up the entertainment of watching the match, turning football from game to groan.

But even if FIFA exploited the climate rationale for even more ad money, the main point about the negative impact of climate change on playing and enjoying sport still exists.

As we’ve experienced firsthand from the unbearable heatwaves this year, the world is getting hotter and is threatening the safety of us all, football players and fans included.

In looking back at the World Cup, where should our focus be for the football season ahead? Being part of the solution or taking an ever-increasing emissions approach that increases the risk of harm to players and the sport itself?

Football’s climate impact doesn’t reset each season

At the start of every new football season the points tally resets to zero: last season’s highs cannot be banked and thankfully the lows count for nothing.

Climate heating does not allow for a clean slate. We start every new season in nature from the cumulative total of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. The points tally, measured in temperature degrees of warming, builds on the emissions of previous seasons over decades.

If we are to tackle this accumulated heat together, the football community thinks the world’s favourite sport should play a leading role. A 3,600-person fan survey by Football For Future across the USA, Canada, and Mexico found 96% of Mexican, 90% of Canadian, and 87% of USA fans believed the World Cup should be a global role model for climate leadership.

Unfortunately for all of us, Gianni Infantino and FIFA do not share this perspective and that’s not how it played out this summer. We don’t simply get to reset the score in August and forget the results of the World Cup that we don’t like.

How grassroots football clubs can take climate action

The solutions lie closer to home than you may think. Local sports clubs have always been natural community hubs and can be central to communities making change. As always, fans play a pivot role; not only during a game but also in their club’s efforts to address the causes of climate change and impacts of climate-related damage and disruptions.

Grassroots football clubs can reduce their environmental impact in practical ways, from installing solar panels and insulating clubhouses against heat and cold to reducing transport emissions when teams travel to away games. These changes can cut running costs as well as emissions, allowing clubs to invest savings back into their facilities and communities.

In an exciting new project led by Climate Outreach and Pledgeball, Gamechanging Futures will showcase how grassroot sport can bring people together to strengthen communities and take action on climate change. The initiative works with six local sports clubs across England that include Bexhill United Football Club, FC United of Manchester and Hastings United Football Club, helping each club become a thriving community climate hub.

There are green shoots everywhere. Carbon Copy shares hundreds of local climate action projects from across the UK, from football to fashion to food, where the stories told are by people who don’t come from typical environmental organisations and the positive impacts go way beyond emissions reductions.

Discover different kinds of local climate stories to inspire you at carboncopy.eco/initiatives

How football can inspire wider climate action

Central to the conversation about how football contributes to climate action is how the sport can energise others to contribute to a more regenerative world.

By translating climate science into football’s language and working alongside football, we can without doubt achieve bigger climate goals and avoid more own goals.

Advancing climate action through sport, entertainment and other avenues makes perfect sense. In finding common ground, connecting with much loved activities like football, and focusing on the relatable impacts of climate change, it’s possible to engage a much wider audience in action that safeguards the things we love to do.