Report Finds Climate Polluters Are Spending Millions on Sports Sponsorships

According to a new report published by the New Weather Institute, polluters from oil and gas companies to airlines are attempting to “sports-wash” across multiple sports.

Those companies, NWI co-director and co-author of the report Andrew Simms told the Guardian, are seeking “to appear as friends of healthy activity, when in fact they’re pumping lethal pollution into the very air that athletes have to breathe.”

Auto and airline companies are the most prolific sponsors, followed by oil and gas companies, including Ineos, the sponsor of one of professional cycling’s highest-profile teams.

“Sport is in the frontline of the climate emergency but floats on a sea of sponsorship deals with the major polluters,” Simms said.

“It makes the crisis worse by normalizing high-carbon, polluting lifestyles and reducing the pressure for climate action.”