Mirova Foundation steps up as main partner for the 3rd edition of Sport for Future in Chamonix (French Alps)

As part of its partnership with Riding to Explore, Mirova Foundation is supporting the 2024 and 2025 editions of Sport for Future. This project was launched by athletes Armelle Courtois and Martin Thomas to draw attention to climate issues amongst top-level sportsmen and women, so that they in turn can raise awareness in their communities.

Sportsmen and women committed to raising awareness of the climate emergency

‘Sportsmen and women are role models for our young people and have the power to positively influence future generations,’ says Lenaïg Corson, an international rugby sevens player with the French national team and a 2024 Sport for Future ambassador. Sport for Future was born of a conviction that sport conveys values that well exceed physical or technical achievement.

The idea is to bring together climate-aware athletes from a wide range of disciplines and give them the keys to take action in their own ways and earn legitimacy in their communities. By serving as relays to these communities, they reach an audience that extends far beyond the world of mountaineering and outdoorsmanship.

Four days of awareness-raising and training

Between 30 September and 3 October, the roughly 15 athletes in attendance learned about the challenges facing the world of sport and the very real consequences of climate change for mountain environments. They also explored the Mer de Glace and the Glacier des Bossons, accompanied by mountain guides and glaciologists. This awareness campaign went hand in hand with training sessions in multiple areas:

• a climate mural and a demonstration of how to calculate your carbon footprint.
• Workshops on the future of sport and the particularities of the sports economy, including a presentation by Philippe Zaouati, Chairman of the Mirova Foundation and CEO of Mirova, who spoke about the role of the financial sector in transforming sport for a more viable model.
• an asso’dating by Mirova Foundation: an opportunity for sportspeople to engage with various voluntary initiatives (becoming ambassadors, giving their time, mobilising their community, etc.).

This latest edition of Sport for Future also focused on raising awareness amongst the general public:

• our photographic exhibition, put together with Riding to Explore / Sport for Future as part of the So Good MAIF Festival, continues its tour and is now on display in the town centre of Chamonix.
• a fishbowl discussionregarding the importance of coalitions involving sports figures, companies, foundations, scientists, associations and activists, with Anne-Claire Roux, Managing Director of Mirova Foundation, Jean-Baptiste Bosson, researcher and member of the French Conseil National de la Protection de la Nature, Armelle Courtois, former world kitesurfing champion and co-founder of Sport for Future, and Arthur Auboeuf, co-founder of Team for the Planet.

Support from the Mirova Foundation

Mirova Foundation’s support for Sport for Future follows on from its commitments to the Riding to Explore adventure led by athletes Armelle Courtois (kite-surfing) and Martin Thomas (canoeing).

For 3 days, a group of 13 Mirova employees convened to work towards a better understanding of glacier melt in the French Alps.
They enjoyed a guided tour of the Mer de Glace, led by glaciologists Luc Moreau, a Mer de Glace specialist, and Jean-Baptiste Bosson, coordinator of the ‘Ice and Life’ project on the emergence of new post-glacial ecosystems, also supported by the Mirova Foundation and WWF France.

A survey of tags hasbeen carried out to measure the melting of the glacier since last April: 8.6 metres were lost this summer, testifying to the acceleration of global warming. In the best-case scenario (1.5°C global warming), one-third of Alpine glaciers will survive, which is why it is essential to preserve this remaining third and the post-glacial ecosystems that are emerging (see the work of Jean-Baptiste Bosson and his article ‘Future emergence of new ecosystems caused by glacial retreat‘ in the journal Nature).