👋 Hi, everybody! In last week’s newsletter, we talked about the power of live concerts and how that energy can be harnessed for climate action. Today, we’re looking at another way climate awareness can be an overlooked dimension of in-person events — this time, of the sporting variety. 

We’ve also got some news about solar energy, fungi, and the next generation of farmers.

This post originally appeared in Grist’s weekly solutions newsletter, Looking Forward. Not on our list yet? Subscribe here to get it in your inbox every Friday.

How the World Cup is contending (or not) with climate issues

A soccer player kicks a yellow ball on turf with a haze of smoke around him

John Lamb / Getty Images

Yesterday marked the official start of the 2026 World Cup, with matches played in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Today, matches are taking place in Toronto and Los Angeles — and on Monday, the fun will arrive in my own city, Seattle, which is hosting six games this summer. (Yay?) 

The tournament could well be the most-watched sporting spectacle in history. As fans stream into the host cities from all over the world and tune in from home, something other than soccer will likely be on display: climate impacts. 

“Heat’s the big one right now,” my colleague Tik Root told me. He’s been keeping an eye on how climate impacts could show up at the tournament. According to a study from World Weather Attribution, around a quarter of this year’s World Cup matches are likely to be played at temperatures that raise a serious risk of heat strain. The report also documents how these dangerously high temperatures have become more likely since the last World Cup was played in North America more than three decades ago. 

FIFA has made some adjustments to accommodate rising heat threats, adding a three-minute hydration break to each half of the game. But many argue it’s not nearly enough. Climate and health experts signed an open letter to FIFA last month asking the organization to update its heat guidelines — and urging it to break ties with fossil fuel sponsors, as promoting the causes of climate change “presents a conflict of interest with the protection of player welfare.” More than 60 current and former players echoed the call in their own letter. 

But even if FIFA’s current heat standards are lacking, at least it has some in place. As Tik wrote earlier this week, the organization appears to have no plan for the possibility of wildfire smoke, which could also present a hazard for players and fans. Los Angeles will host eight World Cup games; last month, the stadium was in an air quality red zone due to wildfires in Southern California.

What happens when an event as globally visible as the World Cup lays bare the consequences of climate change?

It “paints a picture of what can be upended in a warmer world,” Tik told me. 

It’s tempting to hope that would be enough to shake millions of people worldwide who care deeply about this sport into pushing for climate action. The reality may not be quite that. This is certainly not the first time a large sporting event has brought climate and environmental challenges to the foreground. Extreme heat was a big concern at the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris, and the more recent winter games in Italy brought into view just how endangered winter sports may be in a warming world. 

That has led to some pushes for action. As Tik noted, many athletes have become advocates with organizations like Protect Our Winters, which brings together athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to support climate policies. “It does seem to be a mantle that especially winter sports athletes are picking up,” Tik said. 

An unmanned light rail car s towed across a bridge to test a section of new track in Seattle.

Seattle’s newly finished Crosslake Connection. From a certain vantage point in my neighborhood, I can watch it zipping across Lake Washington. Courtesy of Sound Transit

But the bigger opportunity may be how host cities use the influx of resources and attention to push for new infrastructure, or hasten along existing projects, that can have lasting impacts. Several host cities for this year’s World Cup (including Seattle!) used the tournament as a deadline to complete public transit improvements, which will continue to benefit residents long after the matches have concluded. 

Paris similarly used the Olympics as a deadline for its decadeslong project of cleaning up the Seine River, opening up swimming spots for the competition that are now part of helping Parisians weather hotter temperatures. And China famously made enormous strides in improving its air quality between the two Olympic games it hosted in Beijing in 2008 and 2022 — shifting from short-term pollution-cutting measures in the lead-up to the 2008 games to more lasting changes. 

Tik was also keen to point out that big, high-profile events like the World Cup are not the only opportunity to make the sports-climate connection. His local soccer team, the Vermont Green FC, has made climate justice a central part of its mission. 

“We believe soccer can be a powerful catalyst for a more environmentally sustainable and socially just world,” reads a statement on the team’s website. At a game Tik attended in 2023, and wrote about for Grist, the largest banners on the field declared, “Climate justice is social justice” — and ads around the pitch promoted things like a solar installer, a green energy investment firm, and a coalition called the Anti-Racist Soccer Club. 

In addition to the messaging, Tik told me, the Vermont stadium offers water-refill stations for fans who bring their own bottles (something FIFA has decided is out, despite the known risks of high heat) and even a bike valet.

“Going to a Vermont Green game, all the choices I could be making to be more green are made easy for me in a way that I haven’t seen at other events,” Tik said.

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In other news

And finally, looking forward to …

… athletes using their power and their platforms to drive meaningful change.  

⚽🏀⚾

“Well, it’s official — the Turbines are going on strike,” your dad calls to you from the living room as he browses the morning’s headlines. 

You’re ashamed to admit it, but your heart sinks. Of course, you totally support the team — $1 million is embarrassingly little for the league’s managers to donate to the climate justice fund, and hopefully the strike will make them realize that — but you were so looking forward to the game tomorrow night. 

Oh well. Maybe it’ll be a short strike? You settle in to read an op-ed by your favorite player about the team’s cause. 

— a drabble by Claire Elise Thompson

⚽🏀⚾

A drabble is a 100-word piece of fiction — in this case, offering a tiny glimpse of what a clean, green, just future might look like. Want to try writing your own (and see it featured in a future newsletter)? We would love to hear from you! Please send us your visions for our climate future, in drabble form, at lookingforward@grist.org

👋 See you next week!