Climate crisis puts winter sports in danger of extinction

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142 winter sports representatives, including US Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin, have written an open letter to the International Ski Federation demanding that winter sports be a leader in the global fight against carbon emissions and global warming .

They started the fight under the motto “Our sport is in danger of extinction”. The athletes sent a letter to the president of the International Ski Federation, in which they stated that the organization's efforts in the field of sustainable development and environmental protection are not enough.

“Due to the cancellation of competitions due to lack of snow, and due to the decrease in opportunities to learn to ski due to the rapid melting of glaciers, as well as the impossibility of producing artificial snow due to global warming, international public opinion is beginning to to perceive cross-country skiing as a sport for which there is no longer an excuse”, & mdash; the athletes said.

Athletes also argue that the competition itself results in a large amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere due to the many preparations for them.

“For these reasons, we, as members of the winter sports community, must lead the fight with climate change and make our sporting events emission-free. Therefore, we need advanced organizational activities in this area,” the open letter says.

The athletes signed their letter with the words: “This is our most important race, let's win it together.”
< br /> In addition to simply calling for zero emissions, athletes have also set realistic goals for the international organization to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach zero by 2035.

Athletes also call for the creation of a sustainability department that will operate with full transparency.

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