Greener Games Conference: Introducing our Speakers
Next Thursday 17th October 2024, will see Gloucestershire County Cricket Club host the inaugural Greener Games Sustainability Conference at the Seat Unique Stadium, in collaboration with The Next Test.
The conference is an opportunity for everyone in the cricketing community, from elite clubs down to the grassroots, to discuss the effects of climate change on our sport, as well as our wider communities, and to collaborate on positive solutions. There will be three keynote speakers and a series of roundtable discussions - the results of which will contribute to a Community Climate Action Plan.
With 2.5 billion fans, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. With such a huge, passionate fanbase, cricket clubs, players, and fans have the potential to make an enormous impact and can lead the way on climate action. Take for example the Aussie captain, Pat Cummins, who has shown great leadership on this issue and has helped to found the organisation Cricket for Climate - installing free solar panels on numerous community clubs, and driving the sustainability conversation to the forefront of the cricketing world.
For the Greener Games conference, we are extremely fortunate to have some fantastic speakers who are all experts in their field. Let’s introduce them:
Our Chair:
Dr Russell Seymour
Russell is the founder and current chair of the British Association for Sustainable Sport - the benchmark organisation for sustainability in sport. He worked as Sustainability Manager for the MCC at Lord’s Cricket Ground for almost twenty years, overseeing the transition to 100% renewable energy. He is widely regarded as the leading UK voice on sustainability in sport. According to the BASIS ‘Hit for Six’ report, cricket is one of the sports most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Our Special Guest Speakers:
Asif Rehmanwala
Asif is the CEO of Ecotricity, Britain’s ‘greenest energy company’ and Vice-Chairman of Forest Green Rovers, described by FIFA as ‘the greenest football club in the world’. He is also CEO of Green Britain Group, driving forward the green industrial revolution. In the cricket world, Asif serves on the board at Gloucestershire CCC and is an advisor to his local cricket club.
Professor Steve Simpson
Steve is Professor of Marine Biology & Global Change at the University of Bristol and is a world-renowned authority on marine ecosystems and the effects of climate change on our oceans. Steve was an academic advisor to the BBC’s Blue Planet II and is a consultant to the upcoming Netflix series, Our Oceans. He is an expert science communicator and is the Programme Director of the MSc in Science Communication for a Better Planet at Bristol.
Tanya Aldred
Tanya has been writing about sport for over 25 years and writes about cricket for The Guardian, Wisden Cricket Monthly & The Cricketer, among others. She is one of the world’s foremost voices on cricket and climate change, contributing the Environment column to the Wisden Almanack since 2017. She has also written several cricket books, including The Legend of Sparkhill with Moeen Ali. Tanya was a founder of The Next Test and helped to found the Greenest Ground Award.
The event starts at 6:30pm and is completely free to attend. All are welcome and there is still time to book your place.
Whether or not you are able to attend, please do fill out our Climate Action Plan Survey, which will help contribute your voice to the conversation on cricket and climate change.
This event is part of the Community Climate Action Project, funded by the National Lottery’s Community Fund and co-ordinated by Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership.
