Challenges, tensions and opportunities: sport and climate change

This special issue of Sport in Society, Challenges, tensions and opportunities: Sport and climate change, invited sport science scholars to submit papers from various theoretical perspectives, geographical areas, and methodologies. We welcomed submissions from various research themes regarding sports and climate change, especially empirical examples or cases of work with environmental sustainability in sports. In the call, we urged researchers to submit research-based options for sports to address climate change. In the call, we urged researchers to submit research-based proposals on how sports can proactively address climate change through informed management, combining innovation and tradition on a global scale. Several researchers from different countries answered the call. The special issue covers several continents: Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America. The papers cover various dimensions of sports, climate change, and environmental perspectives at the organizational, stakeholder, and individual (athlete) levels, as well as school education and the intersection of recreation, physical activity, and landscapes. Specific sports and activities such as football, alpine skiing, endurance running, cricket, and Physical Education are represented. The issue contains commentary papers, integrative reviews, and empirical studies. Consequently, the complexity of sports, climate change, and environmental sustainability is presented in multiple ways. As one of the defining issues of our time, climate change affects athletes, supporters, coaches, and other sports stakeholders at all levels. Due to the personal and emotional connection that many people around the world have with sports, losing the ability to continue participating in them is an existential threat. Harnessing these emotional connections can transform sports into a vehicle for positive change, including in relation to climate change and environmental degradation.