The Green Runners back Jasmin Paris in call for fossil free sport
Jasmin Paris has signed the Fossil Free Declaration, a pledge for athletes who want a future where sport is free from fossil fuel sponsorship. By taking this step, she joins The Green Runners’ co-founder Damian Hall and others in showing how powerful it is when athletes speak out for change.
What’s the Fossil Free Declaration about?
The Fossil Free Declaration, launched by Cool Down – the Sport for Climate Action Network, is open to athletes who want to lead by example. It asks them to commit to a future where sport is not tied to high-carbon industries. Athletes who sign agree to:
- Reject new sponsorships with fossil fuel companies, airlines, airports, and makers of new combustion engine vehicles.
- Phase out existing deals by not renewing contracts when they end.
- Advocate for change by using their voices to challenge polluting sponsorships and support others doing the same.
It’s a clear stand against the role of high-carbon industries in sport.
Speaking to Cool Down researcher Freddie Daley, Jasmin explained:
As runners, we experience first hand the impacts of the climate crisis, from poor air quality in urban areas, to events cancelled by extreme weather events, be that heatwaves or landslides. Whilst I worry about the effects of these changes on my sport, I worry far more about what they herald for the planet and nature as a whole.
Standing together with green athletes
By signing, Jasmin joins TGR co-founder Damian Hall, alongside Innes Fitzgerald, a rising star in athletics and double European U20 champion; Olympic hockey medallist Izzy Petter; international footballer Tessel Middag; and other athletes already backing the Declaration.
As athletes, spectators, and citizens, we are the ones with the power to determine the direction that our sport takes. We need to act collaboratively, and invest our efforts and finances into events that align with a fossil free sporting future. As runners, we can start by supporting events that don’t use high carbon sponsors, and calling out events that do. By discussing our decision-making openly, we can collaboratively drive the decisions that race organisers make, and simultaneously educate our community further about fossil free sport.
How you can support the movement
Everyone in the running community can help build momentum:
- Share and celebrate athletes who take this stand.
- Support events and races that are free from fossil fuel sponsorship.
- Start conversations in your club, group, or workplace about the role of sponsorship in sport.
Find out more about the Fossil Free Declaration on the Cool Down website.