Polluters are melting the winter sports they sponsor - now it can be measured

The carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) of just seven polluting winter sports sponsors - Audi, Ford, SAS, Equinor, Aker, Volvo, Preem - would melt an area of 1,968 square kilometres (km2) of spring snow each year. 

To put that into perspective, it’s equal to a land surface area 437 times bigger than the skiing area of Åre; Sweden’s largest ski resort, and a potential bidder for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

These are the findings of Badvertising’s new report ‘Dirty Snow’, published to coincide with the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) Alpine World Cup Finals 2024, and to launch the new Save Our Snow campaign.  The area of spring snow that would be melted by the same combined emissions of the seven winter sports sponsors would be 195 times bigger than the skiing area of Skicircus Saalbach, host of this year’s finals, and one of the world’s largest skiing venues.  

Dirty Snow also looks at the degree to which these sponsorship deals with polluters are themselves increasing emissions. Any commercial enterprise expects a return on investment, and advertising and sponsorships are there to support a company’s growth-oriented business model. As a marketing manager for car maker Volvo, sponsor of Vasaloppet, the world’s biggest cross country ski race, put it, sponsorships are ultimately about selling more product, “There are many good reasons for Volvo to be engaged actively in sports... We increase awareness of our trademark. And, naturally, we sell more cars.”

The report finds that among the heavily polluting winter sports sponsors studied,  a fossil fuel sponsorship deal can easily generate up to 100 kg of CO2e for every euro of sponsorship. Leading progressive economist, Professor Richard Murphy of Sheffield University Management School,  said, "What this work shows is that companies' pollution can be reliably linked to the activities that they sponsor in a way that could be replicated by anyone thinking of accepting sponsorship from big carbon producers. Money from those companies comes laden with carbon emissions. This methodology shows how to estimate just how much on a reliable and comparable basis. Every sponsorship deal should be appraised in this way."

For example, the car maker Audi is a main sponsor of the FIS World Cup Finals, and its sponsorship deal is estimated will generate between 103,000–144,000 tonnes CO2 - equivalent to burning between 238,000 and 333,000 barrels of oil.

Winter sports are already vulnerable to climate change and rising global temperatures. Several alpine and cross-country ski races have been cancelled halfway into the 2023-24 season: as of February 21st, nine of the planned Alpine Ski World Cup races of the season have been cancelled. On current trends, in mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere winters are expected to continue to shrink by 4.7 days per decade. In a high-emission scenario, by the end of the century, winter could shrink to a single month from mid December to mid January.

A growing majority of ski slopes in the European Alps are also reliant on artificial snow, an energy-intensive endeavour that can further increase emissions. Approximately. One quarter of skiing areas in Germany, 39 percent in France; 54 percent in Switzerland; 70 percent in Austria; and a huge 90 percent of ski areas in Italy are served by artificial snow. 

One reason that polluters are especially drawn to snow sports is because research shows that winter sports fans are generally more actively engaged, and that there are fewer negative attitudes towards sponsors of winter sports than towards those sponsoring other sports. In fact, experts say that because of these reasons, winter sports are more attractive to sponsors than, for example, football.

But it means that sponsors are compounding the existential threats already posed to winter sports. Each euro from Equinor’s sponsorship of the Norwegian Ski Federation will generate increased emissions of 26.4 kg CO2e and the company’s total emissions is estimated to be responsible for the loss of 635 square kilometres (km2) of snow cover each year. Equinor is the subject of heated protests in both the UK and Norway over their attempts to open the Rosebank oilfield.

Björn Sandström is Swedish elite cross country skier and an environmental scientist highlights a wider problem, "Many sports federations and professional athletes are marketing an idealised, elite lifestyle with high consumption of products and travel. This sends a message to younger generations leading to more people striving towards this 'glamorous life.” These are behaviours that, he says, “are leading us deeper into the climate crisis” and we have to leave behind.” 

What exactly should be done? Anna Turney, a former British alpine skier and Paralympian, says, “Snow sports have given me a huge amount of freedom - and now that freedom is under threat from climate change. Not as a distant risk, but as an immediate peril,” and she thinks that now, “Snow sports organisations need to show courage and… do things differently and that must start with which companies they promote and associate with.” Former Dutch elite skater,  Mark Ooijevaar, argues that, “High-carbon sponsorship in sports needs to be replaced by sponsorship from companies that are building a fossil-free future.”