To the organiser of the Boston Marathon,
Our members love to run at major events such as yours, and we understand that your costs cannot be borne by entrants alone. Hence we appreciate your need to attract sponsors. But the issue we have is your partnering with the use of sponsors funding the fossil- fuel industry.
As you know, we are in a climate emergency. According to the WHO, climate change will result in an additional 250,000 deaths each year between 2030 and 2050. This is thanks largely to fossil-fuels, which account for around 90% of CO2 emissions, says the UN.
Aligning with the right sponsor is critical as the wrong sponsor can easily negate the positive environmental work you’ve achieved. And, of course, it can take valuable time to manage critical comments in the press, social media and communications such as this.
We urge you not to renew Bank of America’s sponsorship, sign up to the Game Changer Sponsorship Pledge and make a public statement to this effect. This is your chance to make a real difference for the future of our planet.
Bank of America ranks 4th in the world in terms of fossil- fuel financing; was third in the world in 2022 for financing of oil and gas extraction in the Amazon rainforest, almost doubling their financing from 2021 to 2022; they backtracked from their climate commitments last December; and their own shareholders are turning against the bank with a significant number backing demands for climate change plans.
You can find out more about the Game Changer Sponsorship Pledge here: Sports Sponsorship Pledge — Badvertising (badverts.org)
You say “Bank of America continues to ensure the stability of the world’s oldest annual marathon”. What you fail to mention is that Bank of America continues to ensure the growing instability of the world’s climate through its funding of fossil fuels. What might be good for your event, is without doubt bad for the planet.
There will be no Boston Marathon on a dead planet.
Please let me know if you would like to discuss this matter with us.
Yours sincerely
The Green Runners
Write to Boston Marathon
Help us convince Boston Marathon to ditch their partnership with Bank of America by emailing [email protected] using the template below.
Helpful links to make a stand
- Bank of America’s role in fossil-fuel expansion
- Bank of America funding fossil-fuels
- News – Have brands gone too far?
- Read our blog on sportswashing and why we think it is never OK to accept funding from fossil-fuels
Take further action to fight for a fitter planet!
- Sharing our social media posts, adding your support to your campaign;
- Joining The Green Runners to amplify our collective voice as runners who care about our planet
- Talking to others about your concerns whether at other events, clubs, social media etc. Please remember to tag us if you are posting about this on social media.
