Issue #56: Scoring goals for the planet
Issue #56: Scoring goals for the planet
Where sporting communities become climate communities
Last weekend, I found myself spending the day watching my son's basketball games. Hundreds of parents, family members and supporters filled the stands, sharing the day's highs and lows - those precious moments that define every sporting community.
As I sat there, hour after hour, with the constant🏀 bouncing 🏀of🏀 a 🏀thousand 🏀basketballs 🏀🏀🏀🏀reverberating through my skull, a thought struck me: this is one of the few spaces where we still come together in this social media era of influencers and misinformation, regardless of our backgrounds or beliefs.
When 1,000 parents or 80,000 fans pack a stadium, they're not asking about each other's political views or checking voting records. They're united by love of the game (or obligation to those who need a lift to the stadium ….!). In our increasingly divided world, sport remains one of the few forces that can genuinely bridge societal gaps, bringing together people who might otherwise never share a conversation, let alone a passionate high-five with a stranger.
🚴🚴🚴⚾⚾🤺🤺🎳🎳🎳🎾🎾🎾🛼🛼🛼🏊🏿🏊🏿⛳⛳⛳
This unique power of sports to transcend boundaries makes it an ideal vehicle for environmental action.
Think about it. Where else do you see CEOs and construction workers, students and retirees, conservatives and progressives all cheering in unison? This "cross-cutting identity" – where our shared love of sport temporarily overshadows our differences – creates a rare opportunity to normalise climate action across diverse social groups.
Because of this unique ability to reach different audiences, more and more groups are forming around sports identities. Here’s just a few:
The beauty of uniting sport with climate action is its subtlety. No one's being lectured about carbon emissions at halftime. Instead, environmental care and climate action just becomes a part of sporting culture. When icons of cricket fund solar panels on their old home club rooms (looking at you Pat Cummins, Alyssa Healy and Nathan Lyon) or your running club organises a beach cleanup, it normalises climate action in a way that feels authentic rather than forced.
In an era where environmental messages often get lost in the noise of political debate, sport might just be our secret weapon for creating lasting change – one game, one race, one match at a time.
So next time you go to a sports event, join a team, or talk sports with a friend, mention how sports people are also taking action on climate. And who knows, maybe you could even start your own group? I haven’t been able to find a Underwater Hockey Players for Climate group for example. Or……
Curlers for Climate
Synchronised Swimmers Against Sea Rise
Roller Derby Rebels for Renewables
Karate Kids Kicking Carbon
Pickleball Pros for Planet Protection
Sumo Wrestlers for Solar……
Ugh, I should stop now! :)
What can you do today?
🏆🏆🏆Want to start with some good news? Well, did you know that Glencore and Yancoal have withdrawn their enormous Hunter Valley Operations North and South thermal coal mining expansion projects - the biggest ever proposed in NSW - from Australia's environmental approval process (!!!). Glencore and Yancoal proposed to mine up to 40 million tonnes of coal every year until 2050, contributing 1.3 billion tonnes of emissions over the life of the project. 🏆🏆🏆
We helped out with our petitions and advocacy, so thank you climate clubbers; we can help make change!💥💥
🐝 If you have 5 minutes:
As always, environmental groups around Australia are calling for an end to fracking. I feel like we’ve been at this rodeo before! But the ride has not yet stopped. Help Market Forces in their new push to stop APA Group - Australia’s largest gas pipeline operator - from constructing pipelines to the Beetaloo carbon bomb fracking site. UniSuper still funds APA and it’s time they stopped!
Action: Use the Market Forces form to ask UniSuper to use its remaining 5% in APA to urge the company not to enable fracking in the Northern Territory.
The Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (WPSQ) Fraser Coast Branch has lodged an appeal with the Planning and Environment Court, challenging the Regional Council’s recent approval of a large-scale, 19-storey ‘twin towers’ hotel and apartment complex on the Esplanade overlooking the Great Sandy Marine Park. The proposal breaches height and zoning provisions, posing severe threats to nesting marine turtles and shorebirds and impacts areas identified as essential habitat and ecologically significant wetlands, including in-shore coral reefs.
Action: Sign the Parliamentary e-petition asking the Queensland government to ‘call in’ the development for review.
🐇 If you have 15 minutes:
Are you a plan-ahead person already thinking about Christmas, but sick at the thought of spreading more plastic tat across the globe? Well, Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee (B4C) has some better options for you! Their team of Boomerang Bags volunteers have created a range of handmade items from reused materials. Take a look and see if there’s anything that catches your fancy while helping out this great Brisbane volunteer group.
Action: Check out the upcycled presents created by B4C, and start planning a clean and green Christmas for 2024.
I’m a sucker for university post-grad surveys. As an academic myself I know how hard it is to get people to reply to surveys, especially with honest answers! So when I saw this email about a Master of Research student’s survey at CQ University I thought I’d share it with you. Help them out in their efforts to build our knowledge about environmental behaviours and actions.
Action: Take the Education information and the meat-eating behaviours of environmental supporters survey (which has three stages) to help us learn more about fostering environmental behaviours. ✍🏽✍🏽✍🏽
💃🏽 If you have 30 minutes or more:
Ever feel overwhelmed at the scale of our environmental problems? Join a Climate Cafe. At a Climate Cafe there is no guest speaker, no advice given, no call for action. Instead, you’ll find a supportive, facilitated conversational space for people to gather and share thoughts and feelings in response to the climate crisis. Watch a video about PSC Climate Cafes here and find out more about the wonderful work Psychology for a Safe Climate is doing.
Action: Click here to register for one or more of the online cafes with the dates and times on image below.
With a new LNP government in place, things are still up in the air about what will happen with coal and gas expansion in Queensland. The LNP never confirmed their position on this, and it’s likely we’ll need to keep working hard to protect Queensland’s precious groundwater from risky coal and gas expansions for the next four years. Find out how at the Lock the Gate webinar.
Action: Join Lock the Gate this Thursday 31st October to discuss what this election campaign means for coal and gas expansions in Queensland.
What: online election debrief and next steps
When: Thursday 31st October at 12pm AEST
Where: Via Zoom online
Q: How many climate change deniers does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: What are you talking about, the bulb is fine. (Professor and comedian Bill McGuire, featured on CNN)
Humour is a powerful weapon in these dark times. From a joke about climate deniers to a story about poo-powered lamps - as Yale Climate Connections notes ‘a good poop story is bound to lighten the mood’ - sometimes you just have to have a laugh. 😂😂
I found the Climate Comedy Cohort inspiring - check out their video and see if you can find a giggle in there like I did.
That’s all for today, folks 👋🏽 Thanks for taking action.
See you in two weeks
Robyn
plus Malcolm, Ron and Jan - The Climate Club Qld team
We live, work and play on the lands of the Yuggara and Turrbal people in and around Magandjin - Brisbane. We pay respect to their Elders, past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded - always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
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