Special Seminar Session, Dr Mark Doidge

A call for sociology of sport to centralise climate action and nature

There is a ‘Strange silence of mainstream sociology’ on climate change (Lever-Tracey 2008). Sociology of sport is not absolved from this silence (McMillan 2024). The United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework (2018) called on the global sports sector to take leadership on climate change by aiming for carbon neutrality and using sport to create ‘solidarity among global citizens for climate action’ (UNFCC, 2018). The UNFCC provides an entry point for sports organisations, yet this is just the tip of the melting iceberg. More needs to be done to in order not to miss ‘a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all’ (IPCC 2022: 35). Sport is (and will continue to be) impacted by climate change, and it also impacts the environment and climate. Despite this, the sociology of sport has been slow as an academic discipline to approach the issue of climate change, even thought it will be the central issue affecting society and sport in the coming years. Sport Management colleagues have led the way in developing what they call Sport Ecology as a subdiscipline to address this drought (McCullough, 2023; Mccullough, Orr and Kellison, 2020). This paper addresses this lacuna in sociology of sport and suggests a tentative research agenda for the sociology of sport to ensure that the research we undertake has lasting impact on the planet – and define ourselves in relation to sport management.