Sports and climate change might not be the most intertwined communities, but that could change soon.
The 100% Sport campaign is the result of a partnership between British Telecommunication (BT) and gold medal-winning sailor Sir Ben Ainslie with the intent of bringing sports fans together to tackle climate change through green efforts, specifically renewable energy. This isn’t the first endeavor from the sports community to bring awareness and prevention of climate change, but the 100% Sport campaign goes beyond to unite fans across sports to channel their passion and fandom to enhance the enthusiasm towards reducing carbon emissions.
Sir Ainslie, an experienced environmentalist through 11th Hour Racing’s marine awareness, knows the importance of awareness. In BT’s news release, Sir Ainslie explained that, “As a sailor I’m constantly aware of my surroundings. Sailing at venues around the world you get to see first-hand and up-close water pollution. It’s not just something I’ve read about, it’s something I’ve seen and experienced. I’ve also experienced the real power of fans –cheering you on to the finish line, and seeing how they have got behind our race to become a truly sustainable sports team.”
Currently, fans are encouraged to spread the movement on Twitter through the #go100percent–the first step in the campaign’s bottom-up strategy. Early in the campaign, less than a month old, traction appears to be trending upwards on Twitter. It will take some time to see if the movement gains viral levels, but with BT’s 1.7 million strong channel viewership they expect that if even 10 percent take notice the movement should have early success.
With fans taking an increased level of awareness, the campaign hopes to bring to light the levels of extortion that comes from stadium building. With more attention thrust onto the subject, the hope is that fans will pressure these stadiums to invest this money into arena accountability to enhance its environmental responsibility.
Joining Sir Ainslie in the campaign is rugby stars Austin Healey and Martin Bayfield to encourage fans to get involved. Check out the video below featuring the two discussing the movement at length.
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