Climate change threat to winter sports prompts agreement between ski chiefs and UN experts

Ski and snowboard chiefs are to work with United Nations weather experts to address the “existential threat” to winter sports posed by climate change.

Last season, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) cancelled 26 of its 616 World Cup races across all disciplines for weather-related reasons.

“Winter sports and tourism face a bleak future because of climate change,” it said.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) last year warned only 10 countries will be able to host snow sports by 2040 because of the impact of climate change.

Now the FIS has signed a memorandum of understanding to work with the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) “to highlight the far-reaching impacts of rising global temperatures on snow and ice cover and to establish practical initiatives”.

It is the first time the WMO has partnered with an international sports federation.

“Climate change is, simply put, an existential threat to skiing and snowboarding,” said FIS president Johan Eliasch.

“We would be remiss if we did not pursue every possible effort that is rooted in science and objective analysis. This is what we are trying to follow and what is at the core of this promising partnership with the WMO.”

“Ruined winter vacations and cancelled sports fixtures are – literally – the tip of the iceberg of climate change,” added WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo.

“Retreating glaciers, reduced snow and ice cover, and thawing permafrost are having a major impact on mountain ecosystems, communities and economies and will have increasingly serious repercussions at local, national and global level for centuries to come.”

Next month, the bodies will host an event for all 137 national ski associations, venue managers and event organisers to look at the issue.