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Research
We cover all research related to sport and the natural environment: the recent, the relevant, the revolutionary. Our goal is to synthesize sport ecology research in one place, so researchers and practitioners have access to the latest information.
If you would like more information about any of the studies included here, please contact our team!
In the Spotlight
Climate Risks in Motorsport: Setting Boundary Conditions in Formula 1
Since Formula 1 racing travels the globe and is exposed to a variety of climates, this research assesses each circuit’s climate risks against a set of safe boundary conditions. Temperature, precipitation, air quality, and other climate disasters were considered with most circuits experiencing some level of risk from heat, flooding, poor air quality, and heavy precipitation. Singapore and Qatar emerged as particularly vulnerable circuits with Austria considered to be the least vulnerable. F1 can showcase good climate resilience by adapting its calendar and operations to decrease its vulnerability from the climate risks identified.
For students: We will help you find the original work (full-length texts). Get in touch.
For academics: if you've published something about - or related to - sport ecology and we've missed it, get in touch.
Note: The SEG does not own the intellectual rights nor copyright to the texts discussed herein. We share summaries of relevant research, and cite the original work, to make academic articles more accessible to people outside the academic community.
Reports
THREE YEARS OF PROGRESS
A Review of Sustainability Across the 2021-2024 Olympic Cycle
published in collaboration with The Sustainability Report.
Slippery Slopes Report
Sports for Nature: Setting a Baseline
Database
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A typology of circular business models in the sport industry
This conceptual paper develops a typology of circular sport business models to explain how sport organizations can integrate circular economy principles into sustainable value co-creation processes across the sport industry. The study is important because sport ecology research has largely examined environmental impacts and pro-environmental behaviours without fully addressing how sustainability can be embedded into sport organizations’ business models and strategies. The cir
Sport and climate change: Understanding a two-way relationship
This paper provides a critical overview of the growing field of sport ecology by examining both how climate change affects sport and how sport itself contributes to environmental degradation and carbon emissions. Climate change increasingly threatens sport through extreme heat, floods, air pollution, and disruptions to infrastructure and competition schedules, while the sport industry simultaneously contributes to climate change through transportation, construction, energy us
Why grassroots football struggles to go green
This study focuses on the extent of pro-environmental activity within community football clubs in England and explores the structural barriers limiting environmental action at the grassroots level of the sport. Grassroots football involves thousands of clubs, facilities, volunteers, and participants, creating substantial cumulative environmental impacts despite limited attention in football sustainability research. This article shifts the focus away from elite professional fo
Decoding sustainability at mega-sport events: What spectators actually notice
This study explored how spectators at the 2022 European Championships in Munich interpreted sustainability-related signals communicated through the event, with a particular focus on differences between directly observable sustainability practices and spectators’ pre-existing beliefs and expectations. Sport events increasingly promote sustainability initiatives, yet little is known about how spectators actually perceive and interpret these efforts beyond environmental messagin
Balancing sport growth and environmental responsibility
This commentary examines the growing tension between commercial growth and environmental sustainability in the sport sector, and proposes a more balanced, ecocentric approach to managing sport’s relationship with the natural environment. The authors explore how competing “institutional logics”, particularly environmental and commercial priorities, shape sustainability efforts and often create contradictions within the sport industry. Many sport organizations currently promote
Rethinking sport event sustainability in the age of climate change
This article examines the growing challenges climate change poses to sport events and argues for a more holistic and integrated approach to sustainable sport event management and sport ecology. It addresses the undercurrent divide by criticizing the dominion of conventional frames of event analysis and their limitations. The authors propose an alternative agenda for enabling event adaptation to climate change and more generally capturing the complex relationship between sport
Biodiversity strategies and legitimacy in the golf industry
This study examines how biodiversity strategies are implemented across the golf industry by analyzing sustainability initiatives from golf courses, equipment manufacturers, and professional tours, with the aim of understanding whether biodiversity engagement is primarily symbolic or substantive. Golf courses occupy millions of acres globally and directly shape ecosystems through land management, water use, habitat modification, and chemical applications. The paper illustrates
Sport ecology at a crossroads: From awareness to climate action
This paper reviews the development of sport ecology research and examines how sport organizations, researchers, and stakeholders can better respond to climate change through environmental impact reduction, climate adaptation, and meaningful stakeholder engagement. Climate change increasingly threatens the future of sport through rising temperatures, extreme weather events, poor air quality, and changing environmental conditions, while sport itself contributes to environmental
Greener fairways? Biodiversity and sustainability certifications in the golf industry
This paper examines the relationship between golf courses and biodiversity by reviewing existing research on golf and ecology, identifying key ecological principles relevant to golf course management, and evaluating how two major sustainability certification programs incorporate biodiversity considerations. Golf courses are often criticized for their environmental impacts because they involve intensive land management, monoculture turfgrass, water use, and chemical inputs. Ho
Scope 3 matters: The hidden carbon cost of sport events
This systematic review examines the environmental impacts of Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions associated with sport events, with a particular focus on indirect emissions generated through transportation, accommodation, food, energy use, and waste. Scope 3 emissions often represent the largest share of a sport event’s total carbon footprint, yet they remain poorly measured and inconsistently classified in both research and industry practice. The authors analyzed 50 peer-review
Participant travel dominates the carbon footprint of running events
This paper examines and compares the carbon footprints of 28 mass participation running events in North America, using a methodology developed by the Council for Responsible Sport as part of its Responsible Sport Standard for Events accreditation process. Sport events are increasingly expected to reduce their environmental impacts, yet comparisons across events remain difficult because studies often use different assessment methods and reporting standards. This study is uniqu
Sportification and environmental impacts of modern sports
This book chapter serves as an introduction to explore the tensions between modern sport’s constant pursuit of increased performance and the growing need for environmental sustainability in the sports sector. Climate change is already reshaping many sports, particularly winter sports that increasingly depend on artificial snow, indoor facilities, and technological adaptation. The authors propose that the dominant “sportification” logic of modern sport, one that is centred on
Sustainable adaptations of the ski industry in Sweden
This study explored how stakeholders in the Swedish ski industry perceive climate change risks, what adaptation and mitigation strategies they are using, and whether Sweden could gain a competitive advantage over the European Alps under future climate change. Ski tourism is highly vulnerable to climate change, and Northern Sweden may become one of Europe’s most snow-reliable ski destinations in coming decades. The researchers combined ski season climate modelling for 23 Swedi
Green fans, green clubs: How sustainability initiatives shape fan behaviour in professional sport
This study examines how fans perceive pro-environmental sustainability initiatives promoted by a professional football club and investigates whether these perceptions influence social, environmental, and economic behaviours associated with the triple bottom line framework. Sport organizations increasingly use their social influence to promote environmental sustainability, yet little empirical research has examined how fans actually respond to these initiatives, how they influ
Measuring the environmental cost of mega sporting events
This paper examines two quantitative approaches, Ecological Footprint analysis and Environmental Input–Output modelling, for assessing selected environmental impacts associated with major sporting events. Sport event organizers face pressures to measure and reduce the environmental impacts of mega-events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. It is therefore critical to evaluate practical tools capable of quantifying environmental externalities linked to event-related
Different fans, similar support: Environmental attitudes across professional sport fanbases
This study examines whether fans of two professional sport teams sharing the same venue differ in their environmental attitudes, awareness of team sustainability initiatives, and support for environmental action based on both sport affiliation and environmentalist identity. Professional sport organizations increasingly use sustainability initiatives to engage fans, yet many teams remain hesitant to promote them due to fears of political polarization or fan backlash. The study
From sport facilities and events to fan behavior: The next frontier of sustainable sport
This paper reviews the development of environmental sustainability research in sport operations and identifies future priorities for researchers and practitioners seeking to reduce the environmental impacts of sport. Climate change increasingly threatens sport through extreme temperatures, poor air quality, and disruptions to facilities and events, while sport itself contributes substantially to environmental degradation. This paper is important because it synthesizes researc
How Artificial Intelligence could contribute to sport sustainability
This paper examines how artificial intelligence (AI) can act as a catalyst to integrate sport, environmental sustainability, and digital innovation into a systemic approach to sport ecology. Sport ecology has largely focused on fragmented sustainability actions—especially climate—while overlooking broader environmental challenges like biodiversity loss and pollution. This study is novel in proposing AI not just as a tool, but as a transformative driver of “systemic sport ecol
Can sport drive sustainability? The opportunities and contradictions of modern sport
This chapter examines the complex relationship between sport, sustainability, and marketing, with a particular focus on how sports events both contribute to environmental problems and can act as drivers of sustainable behavior change. Fans, supporters and athletes are central to bringing about change to protect the sport for their community and future generations. Sport is a global industry with major economic, social, and cultural influence, yet its environmental impacts, fr
Rethinking sport spaces in the Anthropocene: from natural to artificial settings
This conceptual paper examines how sport has progressively shifted from natural outdoor settings toward increasingly artificial and controlled environments, and proposes a “Natural to Artificial Spectrum” to better understand sport’s evolving relationship with the environment. Climate change, environmental degradation, and resource use are increasingly affecting sport participation, facilities, and events worldwide. The paper is linking processes of artificialisation and indo
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