At 16 years old, athlete Innes FitzGerald is refusing to stick to the track. The promising long-distance runner has turned down the chance to compete in the World Cross Country Championships. Her reasoning? The contest is in Australia, thousands of miles from her home in Devon. Innes says she cannot justify flying in a climate crisis.
“I had to make a move. I had to do something just to make sure people were aware of the problem,” she says. “So when I had the opportunity to go to Australia, I was like, well, this is when I should say something.”
The response from British Athletics has been muted - the organisation declined to comment when approached by BBC Newsbeat and Innes says she only got a short response herself.
Innes’ choice highlights an issue in global competitive sport: is there a way it can be less travel-intensive?
The Qatar World Cup had pledged to be the first carbon-neutral tournament but there were an estimated 500 flights every day in and out of the capital, Doha, which cast doubt on those ambitions.
And Nottingham Forest had to defend itself after flying to and from Blackpool - 20 minutes each way - for a match in January.
Analysis
By David Lockwood, head of sustainability for BBC Sport
A return economy flight from London to Sydney generates around 2,484 kg of CO2 per passenger, this is just from the burning of the fuel. However, CO2 emitted at high altitude has an elevated impact - by a factor of around 2.7 - which would equate to 6,707 kg CO2.
There is no doubt that Innes’ decision to not fly to Australia has already provoked debate and raised awareness of the relationship between sport and climate change.
The bigger picture and, quite literally, the bigger issue, is the huge environmental and geographical footprint of sport. There is more sport now than ever before and increasingly it is globalised, driving emissions ever higher.
For Innes, her decision will do her no favours, particularly with sport administrators and promoters, but it’s one that I fully endorse … 