Last week, at a Climate and Energy Summit, I told Australia's top CEOs and business executives that 'soon, the social license of gas will be obliterated'.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The events of the past few days have provided validation that we're on our way. Earlier this week, the Australian Cricket team's test captain Pat Cummins publicly raised his ethical objections to gas giant Alinta's $40 million sponsorship contract with the Australian team.
He said: "When we're getting money, whether it's programs for junior cricket, grassroots, things for fans around Australia, I feel a real responsibility that with that, we're doing on balance what is the right thing."
It takes a lot of courage to stand up for what is right, and Pat is not alone.
The Australian Diamonds netball team squad member Donnell Wallam has also objected to wearing the uniform with Gina Rinehardt's Hancock logo plastered on it.
Indeed, Netball Australia has been criticised over this partnership due to the mining giant's poor record on Indigenous and environmental issues.
Even the fans are getting on board, with a group of Fremantle Dockers supporters recently penning a letter urging the club to drop Woodside as a sponsor.
Australian sport is worth $50 billion to the economy and employs over 220,000 people.
Televised sports reach millions of Australians in prime time viewing. The fossil fuel giants know this and big money is spent on advertising and sponsorship.
Jerseys bearing the logos of fossil fuel giants is absurd when you consider how much of a threat climate change is posing to Australia's sport.
Driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), climate change is fuelling more extreme, more widespread and more frequent disasters that are disrupting our most famous national obsessions.
By 2040, heatwaves in Sydney and Melbourne could exceed 50 degrees Celsius.
Already, we've seen big disruptions to major international events, like the Australian Open tennis tournament, from extreme heat.
No athlete, whether an elite professional or a community player, is immune to our increasingly hot summers, which are a health hazard for those playing and watching sport.
There is precedent for removing problematic advertising from the public eye. In the 1990s, VicHealth undertook a mammoth effort to remove all tobacco sponsorship of sports.
It supported health agencies, peak bodies, organisations and elite clubs to buy out tobacco companies' sponsorship slots, replacing them with targeted messages shifting the narrative to expose the detrimental effects of tobacco on our health.
What followed was a sponsorship revolution that saw horse racing, greyhound racing, cricket, soccer, and more all calling it quits on tobacco sponsorships.
MORE OPINION:
This campaign was backed by high-profile sports people - much like the increasing number who are joining the call to give fossil fuels the flick.
Athletes are powerful advocates for change. Increasingly, they are taking a stand and using their platforms to advocate for positive action on climate change.
Indeed, all Australians who enjoy sport can join the cause and support those who no longer want to play under the banner of major polluters.
In doing so we are also backing all the Australians who are already suffering from the devastating consequences of the un-natural disasters we see playing out right now, exacerbated by coal, oil and gas pollution.
History will judge today's power holders for the decisions they make now.
Sporting executives can make their mark and demonstrate foresight and leadership to lead their organisations through a climate transformation.
To them I say: do you want to be remembered as the leader who got it right or the one who didn't do enough?
- Amanda McKenzie is the chief executive officer of the Climate Council.
