Advancing environmental sustainability research and policy in sport.

Zhang, Yueting; Hao, Han; Ming, Yikeranmu Yi; Zhang, Yaomin; Shi, Bing · Nat Commun · 2026

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Abstract

Sport holds profound global social influence, yet its systemic environmental footprint is often overlooked in sustainable development governance. Although environmental initiatives have proliferated in professional sport, many remain limited to public relations—fragmented, symbolic, and inadequate to tackle structural challenges. To facilitate a transition, a scientific framework is needed that offers coherent, verifiable pathways, bridging the gap between isolated sport initiatives and the broader systems of global environmental governance.