(Reuters) – The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have formed a new partnership focused on raising awareness about the impact of climate change on winter sports and tourism, they said on Thursday.
Their partnership will also mark the first time the United Nations’ WMO collaborates with an international sports federation, with the agreement entering into effect ahead of the 2024-25 winter season.
“Ruined winter vacations and cancelled sports fixtures are – literally – the tip of the iceberg of climate change,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement.
“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.”
Warming weather systems and a shorter season are threatening winter sports and testing the resolve of professionals and amateurs alike across Europe.
In the 2023-24 season, FIS organised 616 World Cup races among all disciplines across 166 venues, but 26 were cancelled due to weather-related reasons.
European ski destinations, such as Italy, have seen entire mountains snowless and ski centres abandoned as rising temperatures threaten the skiing industry worldwide.
“The climate crisis is obviously far bigger than FIS − or sports, for that matter: it is a genuine crossroads for mankind,” FIS President Johan Eliasch said.
“It is true, though, that climate change is, simply put, an existential threat to skiing and snowboarding.
“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.”
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
