Speaker 1: Already and this is this is the Daily ARS.
Speaker 2: This is the Daily OS.
Speaker 3: Oh now it makes sense. Good morning and welcome to
Speaker 3: the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, the third of September. I'm
Speaker 3: Emma Gillespie, I'm Lucy Tassel. A group of prominent Australian
Speaker 3: athletes have signed an open letter calling on the federal
Speaker 3: government to commit to an emissions reduction target of at
Speaker 3: least seventy five percent below two thousand and five levels
Speaker 3: by twenty thirty five. Sport four seventy five percent. The
Speaker 3: campaign behind the letter says, quote in sport, we understand
Speaker 3: ambitious goals and understand what it means to achieve them.
Speaker 3: When it comes to climate, we expect the same from
Speaker 3: our leaders.
Speaker 1: The pledge has been signed by professionals from across the
Speaker 1: fields of the AFL rugby union, soccer, surfing, cycling, snow sports,
Speaker 1: athletics and beyond. Include Dating Matilda's player Alex chidiak Ex
Speaker 1: socru Craig Foster, Freemantle captain Alex Pierce and AFLW legend
Speaker 1: Nicola Barr.
Speaker 3: Barr joined GWS as the number one pick in the
Speaker 3: inaugural AFLW draft in twenty sixteens. After nine seasons with
Speaker 3: the Giants, she signed with Saint Kilda last year. But
Speaker 3: off the field, Bar works with several climate and environment groups,
Speaker 3: including front Runners and Athlete Led Conservation Organization and the
Speaker 3: group behind Sport for seventy five. To tell us more
Speaker 3: about this letter and what it's calling for, Barr joins
Speaker 3: us for today's deep dive.
Speaker 1: Before we get into it, here's a quick word from
Speaker 1: our sponsor.
Speaker 3: Nicola Barr. Welcome to the Dally Os Podcast.
Speaker 4: Thanks so much for having me.
Speaker 3: We are very excited to be chatting to you today.
Speaker 3: We are talking about this Sport for seventy five initiative.
Speaker 3: The campaign is calling for a seventy five percent emissions
Speaker 3: reduction by twenty thirty five. Why this targets specifically, Where
Speaker 3: is the seventy five coming from?
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I guess what we know is that seventy
Speaker 2: five percent is a really strong target and it's what
Speaker 2: the experts are telling us, and so that's why we're
Speaker 2: calling for a seventy five percent reduction in Australia's emissions.
Speaker 2: And we know that it's not just good for the economy,
Speaker 2: it's also good for sport and that's why athletes are
Speaker 2: jumping on board and really trying to call for meaningful action.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to understand a little bit more about
Speaker 3: why this initiative matters to athletes. We've got professional sports people,
Speaker 3: retired sports people from across a whole range of different sports.
Speaker 3: What is it about this diverse coalition that works why?
Speaker 4: Now?
Speaker 2: Look, I think this really started as well from the
Speaker 2: amazing leadership of the Business for seventy five campaign. They've
Speaker 2: had some amazing companies like Fortescue and Unilever and lend
Speaker 2: Lease and Ika all jump on board calling for a
Speaker 2: target of seventy five percent as well. And I think
Speaker 2: of athletes, you know, we're seeing climate change impact sport
Speaker 2: across all different kinds of sports and codes. And what
Speaker 2: we know as athletes is that whilst it's impacting us
Speaker 2: at the elite level, the biggest impacts are on grassroots
Speaker 2: sport and community sport. And we grew up playing sport,
Speaker 2: loving sport, and really want future generations of kids to
Speaker 2: be able to experience the same things that we did
Speaker 2: as kids. And I guess for athletes, you know, we're
Speaker 2: role models in society a lot of the time, and
Speaker 2: our voice can have a really positive impact.
Speaker 4: So I guess joining.
Speaker 2: Together is a really nice way to be able to
Speaker 2: call for meaningful action from our government. We know that
Speaker 2: in Australia we punch well above our weight when it
Speaker 2: comes to the world stage on sport, and we think
Speaker 2: that we can when it comes to climate action as well.
Speaker 3: How has extreme weather or climate change impacted your playing career?
Speaker 3: Have you seen it firsthand? What does that look like?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Absolutely.
Speaker 2: I think in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, when we had
Speaker 2: the Black Summer bush fire, I was playing for the
Speaker 2: Giants in Greater Western Sydney and I can remember running
Speaker 2: out to training in what felt like apocalyptic conditions.
Speaker 4: We sort of ran outside.
Speaker 2: There was the sky was orange, there was ash in
Speaker 2: the sky, and we were doing laps around the oval
Speaker 2: and couldn't even breathe properly. And I guess that the
Speaker 2: conversation that I'd had with my teammates at the time was,
Speaker 2: you know, if this is impacting us and we have
Speaker 2: all the resources to adapt and change our training so
Speaker 2: that we can stay safe, what does this kind of
Speaker 2: experience mean for younger athletes and grassroots athletes?
Speaker 4: And so that was probably.
Speaker 2: The first time that happened, and then since then, you know,
Speaker 2: we played in extreme heat conditions. We've played in Blacktown
Speaker 2: in thirty six degrees and even this year alone in
Speaker 2: the AFL we saw Round one rescheduled due to cyclone Alfred.
Speaker 2: We've seen extreme heat, you know, even into Round five
Speaker 2: that gather around in Adelaide. So it's impacting all sports.
Speaker 2: I've just caught out a couple of AFL examples because
Speaker 2: that's where I played. But we know that, you know,
Speaker 2: even recently a report on the impacts of climate on cricket,
Speaker 2: and so many games are being impacted by extreme weather.
Speaker 4: And it's not just the athletes who are suffering.
Speaker 2: It's the sports fans that go there, it's the coaches,
Speaker 2: it's the volunteers. This is something that impacts everyone who
Speaker 2: loves sport, and in Australia, sports such a huge part
Speaker 2: of the way we live our lives and we want
Speaker 2: to do everything we can to make sure everyone can
Speaker 2: experience it into the future.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the cricket example is really interesting because
Speaker 3: you know, while we're not all professional athletes, we are
Speaker 3: a sporting nation. There are so many of us who
Speaker 3: love being spectators and supporting our favorite sporting codes, you know,
Speaker 3: whatever they may be. It's interesting to think about the
Speaker 3: impact of what that's like on the other side, you know,
Speaker 3: sitting in the stands of the SCG for a test
Speaker 3: on a forty degree day and the health impacts there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. Like I said, it's not just the athletes
Speaker 2: that this is impacting. It's impacting everyone involved in sport.
Speaker 2: And I know we've seen several examples of you know,
Speaker 2: fans who are sitting in the stands or in the
Speaker 2: ground suffering from heat exhaustion.
Speaker 4: It does become a real to sport itself.
Speaker 2: So we really want to make sure that the sport's
Speaker 2: doing everything that it can to protect itself into the
Speaker 2: future and to safeguard fans, athletes, volunteers, coaches, everyone involved.
Speaker 3: The open letter states in sport, we understand ambitious goals.
Speaker 3: How does your mindset as an athlete translate into your
Speaker 3: approach to goal setting and climate advocacy.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I guess when we were thinking about this at front Runners,
Speaker 2: we really thought, you know, what do athletes think, and
Speaker 2: I certainly know from my own experience, like you always
Speaker 2: want to set the bar really high for yourself and
Speaker 2: for your team, and we just thought, why would we
Speaker 2: not do the same when it comes to climate action, Like,
Speaker 2: why would we set ourself a goal that is like
Speaker 2: too easy to achieve or not ambitious. That's not what
Speaker 2: we do when we're thinking about high performance and wanting
Speaker 2: to get the best out of ourselves. We always set high,
Speaker 2: high goals and high expectations and often we can end
Speaker 2: up achieving them because we put things in plays to
Speaker 2: make sure that we can actually reach that goal. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I think it's just a really great metaphor to think
Speaker 2: about when we think about athletes setting high goals for themselves.
Speaker 2: We know that we can do the same when it
Speaker 2: comes to climate action and reducing our emissions here in Australia.
Speaker 3: There's obviously a policy push here that will require action
Speaker 3: from lawmakers. But what can competitions like the AFLW be
Speaker 3: doing to better support players through a climate crisis.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great point. And in AFLW, we actually
Speaker 2: used to play over the summer months, which was, you know,
Speaker 2: looking back now is crazy. We had games I mentioned
Speaker 2: before where we play in really extreme heat conditions of
Speaker 2: like thirty six degrees plus. So we have shifted the
Speaker 2: competition to now be played over the more winter and
Speaker 2: I guess spring months as well, which is definitely helping that. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: we are seeing hotter days creep into those months outside
Speaker 2: of summer as well, so it.
Speaker 4: Is really something to consider.
Speaker 2: I think what sports governing bodies like the AFL can
Speaker 2: continue to do is advocate and speak really positively about
Speaker 2: climate action to their fans and followers, but also thinking
Speaker 2: really practically about what they can do. It's all about
Speaker 2: making sure there's a really strong heat policy and that
Speaker 2: everyone's across what that means and what that looks like,
Speaker 2: making sure that everyone knows actually where the heat policy
Speaker 2: sits and what it means for them, but also making
Speaker 2: sure we're moving away from high polluting sponsors as well.
Speaker 2: That's a really important part of what sport can do
Speaker 2: when it comes to positive role modeling as well.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of conversation in the news at the
Speaker 3: moment about emissions reduction targets, a push within the nationals
Speaker 3: to scrap net zero. Do you feel that there are
Speaker 3: maybe some misunderstandings or some myths that need to be
Speaker 3: busted in the emissions reduction space. Is there something that
Speaker 3: you wish you could clarify or that you're trying to
Speaker 3: clarify through sport for seventy five.
Speaker 2: Look, I think I would start off by saying I'm
Speaker 2: definitely not an industrial systems analyst or economic model, but
Speaker 2: what I do know is that are plenty of experts
Speaker 2: out there, like the climate change authorities Matt keain an
Speaker 2: New's professor Frank Jotsoe explaining that this target actually is
Speaker 2: really achievable. Like we said before, what's the point of
Speaker 2: setting targets if they're easy to hit. That's definitely what
Speaker 2: our mindset is as athletes, and I think the other
Speaker 2: thing to say is that a show has always been
Speaker 2: an innovator. We've got the highest penetration of rooftop solar
Speaker 2: in the world, and already forty percent of our electricity
Speaker 2: comes from renewable sources. So we're in pole position to
Speaker 2: demonstrate our leadership on emissions reduction. And if we want
Speaker 2: to do things like host the next cop and show
Speaker 2: communities and the rest of the world that we're really
Speaker 2: serious about this, we do need to commit to it
Speaker 2: with an ambitious target.
Speaker 3: What needs to be done from here? How do we
Speaker 3: increase our targets to incorporate those ambitions to make this possible.
Speaker 2: Well, look, I think that the other thing I should
Speaker 2: have said before is that our current climate commitments by
Speaker 2: states and territories already point to a reduction of between
Speaker 2: sixty six to seventy one percent by twenty thirty five.
Speaker 2: So a national target of seventy five percent is absolutely
Speaker 2: within our reach.
Speaker 4: So I think now it's.
Speaker 2: Just about having conversations with the right people to make
Speaker 2: sure that we are setting this really ambitious target. And
Speaker 2: we can see that so many people want this here
Speaker 2: in Australia. You know, we've had seventy five athletes for
Speaker 2: seventy five percent reduction, and you know we're getting athletes
Speaker 2: jumping on board this campaign more and more as we speak,
Speaker 2: and we can see that business really wants this as well.
Speaker 2: So I think it's just about having the right conversations
Speaker 2: and working together to make sure that we can protect
Speaker 2: the future for generations to come.
Speaker 3: Looking ahead to twenty thirty five, if this campaign is successful,
Speaker 3: what do you hope the sporting landscape will look like?
Speaker 3: How will it be different from today?
Speaker 4: I think what it'll look like is more of what
Speaker 4: we love right. Sport brings us together.
Speaker 2: It's a place where we can cheer for our teams,
Speaker 2: commiserate if they're not going well, and it's a place
Speaker 2: where we can have a lot of joy. Whether that's
Speaker 2: elite sport or community sport. It's one of those places
Speaker 2: that is there for everyone. Sport is there for everyone,
Speaker 2: and it's a really important place that we can, I guess,
Speaker 2: come together in times of hardship as well. There's a
Speaker 2: lot going on in the world, and I think for
Speaker 2: us at front As, sport is such a beautiful way
Speaker 2: for us to connect as community and it really shows
Speaker 2: what we can be like at our best. So for me,
Speaker 2: what it looks like is sport continuing to be a
Speaker 2: huge part of our society moving forward. It's great for
Speaker 2: our health, it's great for our communities, and we just
Speaker 2: want to see that be able to continue into the future.
Speaker 3: It's sein I see your passion, Nikola. Before we let
Speaker 3: you go, it's been a week since we broke here
Speaker 3: at TDA the story from the incredible Mitch Brown coming
Speaker 3: out as the first openly gay or bisexual male player
Speaker 3: past or present in the AFL. Do you have a
Speaker 3: sponsor a comment on that one to share with us today.
Speaker 2: We think Mitch Brown is absolutely amazing here at front Runners.
Speaker 2: He's actually supported a lot of our campaigns as well,
Speaker 2: so we absolutely love what Mitch does.
Speaker 4: And really applaud him for his bravery and what he's been.
Speaker 2: Able to do, particularly with you guys in the last
Speaker 2: week in terms of what it means for the AFL
Speaker 2: I really hope this is a positive step and mich
Speaker 2: has been really brave to come out and do what
Speaker 2: he's done. And I think Mitch even said in a
Speaker 2: statement later to get along to an AFLW game, and
Speaker 2: the reason for that is I think AFLW can show
Speaker 2: how inclusive and amazing sport can be when we do
Speaker 2: create safe spaces for people to be themselves. So just
Speaker 2: really hope that what Mitch has done has a really
Speaker 2: positive flow on effect. I know it's already had a
Speaker 2: massive impact and just completely think he's awesome.
Speaker 3: So love Mitch, brilliant. Thank you so much for your time, Nick.
Speaker 1: No worries, thanks for having me, Emma A big thanks
Speaker 1: to Nichola Barth for joining us on today's podcast. We'll
Speaker 1: be back again this afternoon with the headlines. Until then,
Speaker 1: have a great day.
Speaker 4: My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Speaker 4: Bunjelung Calgutin woman from Gadighl country.
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Speaker 4: We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries,
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