In his third report from Italy’s Olympic and climate frontlines, Matt Rendell explains how a huge amount of construction has gone into the 2026 Winter Olympics, much of it entirely unnecessary.

The Opening Ceremony of the twenty-fifth Olympic Winter Games weren’t held at a winter sport venue, but instead the event took place at the San Siro football Stadium - a site not without controversy.

Welcome to the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics; a festival of international sport in the middle of a global climate crisis that puts athletes, fans and sport itself at risk. Yet the Games are sponsored by a car-maker, an international airline and Italy’s biggest oil company. It’s a paradox.

The 2026 Winter Olympics start tomorrow, at a time when pollution-fuelled global heating is putting the whole of winter sport in crisis. Join Matt Rendell as he reports from Italy for the New Weather Institute and the Cool Down Network.

No snow means no winter sports - and this means no future for the Winter Olympics. The companies sponsoring the Winter Olympics melt the very snow we depend on. Now it’s time to stop promoting polluters - today and for all future winter sports.

This World Snow Day, 18th January 2026 - a date celebrated by the global authority for winter sports, FIS, new research by Scientists for Global Responsibility and the New Weather Institute reveals how the climate impact of the Winter Olympic Games, and several of its key sponsors from heavily polluting industries, are in danger of torching the Games’ own future. 

From the peaks of the Alps to the streets of Paris, the Tour de France captivates millions with stories of endurance, speed, and spectacle. Yet far from the cheering crowds, in the remote rainforests of the Peruvian Amazon, another story is unfolding - one of dispossession, environmental harm, and a global system that links elite sport to ecological injustice.

The 2026 World Cup is set to take place across the United States of America, Canada and Mexico. Research published by the New Weather Institute reveals it is on track to become the most climate-damaging World Cup in the tournament’s 95-year history.

New analysis highlights the growing climate cost of UEFA’s expanding club competitions, as emissions from the Champions League and Europa League rise sharply.

The fossil fuel industry is back on the Olympic podium - this time as a sponsor of the Winter Games. New research reveals that Eni, the Italian oil giant and official partner of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, is melting the very snow and glaciers winter sports depend on.

New research finds football fans are 30 times more likely to be left stranded at full time when attending midweek games compared to weekend kick-offs, costing fans and the planet.

This week over 50 top skiers have signed an open letter calling for end to fossil fuel advertising at Vasaloppet.

New Weather Institute’s report Dirty Money – How Fossil Fuel Sponsors are Polluting Sport reveals that major oil and gas companies are spending at least $5.6 billion on the sponsorship of global sport across 205 active deals.

Since just 2017, at least 33 polluting sponsorship deals have been struck between the global esports industry and high-carbon polluters. Of these, 27 have been deals with car manufacturers, five with major fossil fuel companies, and two with the armed forces of the United States — the planet’s thirstiest consumer of oil.  

Ahead of Paris 2024, and building on the first Rings of Fire report in 2021, elite athletes from across 15 sports – including 11 Olympians – join forces with leading climate scientists and thermal physiologists to examine the serious threat extreme heat poses to competitors at the Paris Olympics.

Our new report, Olympic Smoke Rings has found that sponsorship deals between the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympics Games and just three polluting companies will generate 33.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The organisers of EURO2024 have taken steps to mitigate carbon pollution but should be doing more to reduce its impact given the threat posed to football by extreme weather and the climate crisis.

You will have no doubt heard the advice when it comes to replacing your running shoes: replace them every 500 miles or so. In fact, this rough benchmark has even caused Strava to have an ‘alert’ set up for when your shoes reach at least 400km. So, why have my INOV8 X-Talon 255s lasted over 1000 miles of brutal running?

This report from the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) makes a compelling, and at times alarming, case for sports to seriously and comprehensively grapple with the risks climate presents to their future.

The future of winter sports is closely interwoven with the future of the climate. Rising temperatures and the ensuing loss of snow cover are shortening seasons, creating difficult and sometimes dangerous skiing conditions. Many ski resorts are struggling and some have already had to close.