Sport for the environment: from awareness to investment

Nature as an alley to sustain the future of sport?

As part of the REWET Horizon Europe project, this online event explores how the sport sector can become a powerful driver of wetland restoration.

Sport is a 2.3 trillion euro global economy, projected to reach 8.8 trillion euro by 2050, yet it is fundamentally dependent on healthy ecosystems. Climate change, biodiversity loss and extreme weather are already disrupting sporting activities, infrastructure and event viability. At the same time, a 230 billion euro annual funding gap for nature restoration remains largely untapped.

This event addresses this dual challenge, sport is both at risk and part of the solution. With its global reach and influence, the sector holds unique potential to raise awareness and mobilise funding through athletes, clubs, events and sponsors.

A recent UN resolution on 'promoting sustainable solutions through sport for a resilient planet' positions sport as a key enabler of environmental action.

The session brings together wetland scientists, sport organisations, athletes, business representatives and policymakers to explore

• how to translate sport’s influence into measurable restoration impact;
• how to unlock the untapped market of nature-positive sponsorships;
• how to strengthen collaboration between science, sport, business and policy.

A central element of the event is the REWET Agora: from awareness to investment and collaborative strategy development for a nature and sport challenge, an interactive segment where participants co-develop ideas to bridge awareness, funding and action.

Participants engage in live discussion and reflection, identifying practical pathways for sport to directly support biodiversity and ecosystem restoration. Target participants include REWET partners and sister projects, researchers, sport organisations and athletes, sustainability professionals, policymakers and civil society.

Participants are also invited to join a light, nature-related sport challenge.