Sport lags behind on climate issues, but repeated sabotage of major events contributes nothing to the fight to save our planet.

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Then it happened again.

Just before the prestigious Berlin Marathon started, activists stormed the field and poured paint on the asphalt, before being taken away by police.

The banner reading “last generation” was intended to draw attention to the climate crisis. This action joins an increasingly long series. Everything from ski races and bike races, to tennis matches, athletics events and matches in the Premier League, have seen similar action in recent years.

Some people may think that “the ends justify the means”. There is no doubt that campaigners succeed in getting a certain amount of attention when they choose an arena where many people participate.

But what good is a climate issue if the emotion that arises is primarily resentment at the sabotage itself?

It may be contrary to its purpose to choose a form that will only destroy things, and is not suitable for making humans more climate friendly. In addition, some of these actions endanger the safety of athletes. How environmentally friendly is it?

It is a shame that climate is only included in sports-related agendas only in relation to events of this nature.

There is indeed a lot to be addressed around the environmental impact of this sport, which we need to talk more about.

Unfortunately, the demanding questions are still in the queue:

• Isn’t it cool that the biggest soccer stars in the world use that many private jets?
• How healthy are the signals given by the Norwegian Football Association regarding the speed of replacing rubber granules on artificial grass pitches?
• Can ski events be held sustainably in places where climatic conditions do not allow competing on natural snow, so that energy-intensive artificial snow must be produced in large quantities?
• At what young age should athletes travel here and there to compete?

Website forskning.no have previously discussed studies of travel and spectator consumption in relation to the British stages during the Tour de France. The data shows a carbon footprint of between 170,000 and 193,000 tonnes.

Whether locally, nationally or globally, it cannot be denied that sport is a factor that also burdens the environment. The question that arises is what can be done to overcome this problem. The solution is of course not to stop exercising, but to have a more active internal debate, which is then followed by the will to do something. It is important for sport to play a role in reducing emissions and increasing sustainability.

Currently, there are very few real actions to track. At least in a winter sports country like ours, we will see in the future that one after another the organizers run into problems when the snow masses do not come, and there is nothing to show that there is a good solution.

In sport, too little is done, while those who use sport as an arena for demonstration resort to excessive and self-defeating actions.

This conclusion brings the topic of “sport and the environment” to a paradoxical situation. Sadly.