Sports for People and Planet 2026

Sport is not alone in facing these dual challenges; addressing them demands urgent, systemic, multistakeholder collaboration. The future of global prosperity hinges on stakeholders coming together to prioritize healthy societies and resilient natural ecosystems alongside financial returns and job creation. This report positions the sports economy as a pivotal force in this transformation, using its economic scale and cultural influence to drive positive cross-sectoral change. Developed through consultations with more than 125 organizations and an extensive review of over 130 sources, it proposes three multistakeholder pathways with key actions designed to drive systemic change across the sports economy. The three pathways are: Championing resource stewardship: Strengthening business resilience through integrated water stewardship, scaling circular business models to enhance value creation and reduce environmental impact, and harnessing sporting events as testbeds to pilot and scale sustainable materials and responsible consumption models.Placing sport at the heart of cities: Integrating sport and physical activity into sustainable urban design, using green and blue spaces as active sporting assets, developing sporting infrastructure that prioritizes community well-being and environmental resilience, and advancing sustainable and activemobility systems. Catalysing purpose-driven capital flows: Mobilizing coordinated investment across the capital ecosystem to drive shared impact, strengthening public–private–philanthropic partnerships, and activating purpose-led sport sponsorships to accelerate social and environmental outcomes across the sport value chain. Together, these pathways form a coordinated transformation funnel, driving change from within the sector outwards. Through bold leadership, cross-sector collaboration and strengthened governance, the sports economy can reinforce the socio-environmental systems it depends on, boost profitability and participation, and reduce its environmental footprint. In doing so, the sector can position itself as a powerful catalyst for global prosperity, advancing high-quality growth that benefits both people and the planet. Sport can position itself as a powerful catalyst for global prosperity, advancing high- quality growth that benefits both people and the planet. Sports for People and Planet 6