How Japan's top soccer league is striving to become a climate leader - The Japan Times
How Japan's top soccer league is striving to become a climate leader | The Japan Times
Osaka/Tokyo – The average J. League fan never leaves the house on game day without their uniform, a scarf-shaped towel and perhaps a flag.
But check the bags of some supporters these days and you might find them bringing reusable tumblers, obsolete electronic devices for recycling or even bottles of used cooking oil to the stadium — all in the name of reducing waste and protecting the environment.
It’s a sign of changing attitudes among fans, clubs and the league itself as Japanese soccer — and the sports world as a whole — grapples with the wide-ranging impacts of climate change on operations and their own role in global warming.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”