FIA Q&A: How is Climate Change Impacting Motorsports?

The FIA, motorsports' governing body, has appointed Dr. Madeleine Orr as Visiting Professor at FIA University.

She is a globally recognised academic working at the intersection of sport and climate change and her appointment aims to boost the organisation's expertise in environmental sustainability.

As Visiting Professor, Madeleine's responsibilities include conducting research, contributing to curriculum development, mentoring students, advising on research methodologies and representing the FIA University.

President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President at the FIA, said: “Improving sustainable practices across sport and mobility is an absolute priority for all of us at the FIA.

"Dr. Orr’s appointment strengthens the Federation’s expertise and leadership in this field, elevates the FIA University’s capabilities, and enables us to build on progress to date. I am excited to work with Dr. Orr to push the boundaries of what we can achieve.”

Madeleine spoke to Sustainability Magazine about her plans in the role.

How has your career led you to FIA University? 

I’ve been working in the sport space for a decade as a researcher and sustainability consultant, and I’m always looking for the opportunities that can make the biggest possible difference, acknowledging that time and resource is limited.

It’s taken me to some big events, like the Olympics and Super Bowl, and into some really interesting research projects. But with the technology transition that is needed in the coming decades, particularly in terms of transportation – sport’s biggest source of emissions across all contexts – the FIA has something really unique to offer. 

Already, there is good work happening across the FIA’s championships with rescheduling the Formula E series to limit emissions from shipping and transport, reducing the embedded carbon of cars in some F1 teams and thinking through sustainable fuels in race cars and aviation. 

But still, there is much more to do. Through the FIA University, the FIA wants to supercharge R&D on sustainable solutions for automobiles on the track and on the road, globally, and to work with a wide range of stakeholders on this. Where better to explore that as a researcher than in the fast-paced, rigorous and highly technical world of motorsport? 

What drew your interest to sustainability in sport?

My wake-up call on climate change came through sport: I was on a ski season in the Alps and noticed how poor the snow quality was. It was a real-life reminder of the impacts of climate change on snow sports.

I came to the conclusion that learning about climate change through sport and physical activity makes a lot of sense: for many people in urban areas around the world, their strongest connection to the outdoors and nature comes through sport and recreation.

It’s their walk to work, or their football training, or a bike ride, or passing a ball around in the park that connects them to nature on a regular basis, so why not use that existing connection to nature as a starting point to have a discussion about climate change? 

Almost everyone has got some connection to sport. Whether you’re a motorsport fan or a football fan, or perhaps you’re not a sports fan but you enjoy playing sport, or perhaps your kids do. It brings communities together, and so many of our social rituals revolve around sport. This makes it an especially sticky topic for people, and a good platform to drive awareness and change on all sorts of issues. 

For years, most climate messages were about polar bears dying, or islands sinking into the sea. How many people do you know who have seen a polar bear lately? By contrast, how many people do you know who are watching the F1 race this weekend, or following athletes on social media? Sport is powerful. And as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.

How is climate change impacting motorsport? What adaptations could be needed? 

This is one of the big questions I’ll be working with the FIA to examine. 

Nearly every site on the Formula 1 and Formula E calendars are facing issues with heat. On top of that, there are flooding and storm risks, as we saw in Imola a couple of years ago. Other extreme weather risks include, in some cases, wildfire smoke, tornados and sandstorms. Clearly, these conditions impact the safety of everyone involved, including fans and the local host communities, and could lead to major disruption in the race calendar.

Advance scenario planning is key to avoiding this disruption. The FIA championships are already adapting and progressing on solutions and support across tracks and sites globally, and it is crucial that the whole ecosystem works together to share learnings, knowledge and best practice to ensure we take care of communities around the world.

It’s not just about preserving racing opportunities, it’s about ensuring communities are supported to face climate risks and have access to the information they need to adapt.

The FIA has access to data, so we can help with that.

Where could the biggest sustainability changes happen in motorsport? 

The competition schedule is a big area of focus, as it dictates the amount of shipping, team travel and fan travel - all big challenges. There is a big opportunity to explore the calendar structure to avoid the biggest climate risks, reducing emissions while also delivering world class events. The health and wellbeing of not only the drivers but all the team staff is also paramount and we will be taking an evidence-based approach to examining all the possible variations in this area.

Another avenue is looking at embedded carbon in the cars, across all championships and to look at alternative materials with a view to dropping the amount of carbon fibre and other hard-to-recycle materials that go into the cars. 

Finally, there is a big opportunity to drive awareness and education around climate change among motorsport fans and people who drive cars more generally. 

What impacts could motorsport have on sustainability?

Like every other sector (including sport), motorsport is imperfect when it comes to sustainability and has been rightly criticised for not moving fast enough on some of these issues. Moving forward, the industry must maintain transparency on where it could improve outcomes, and what the potential solutions are, so that it can collaborate effectively with adjacent sectors such as transportation, shipping and tourism. 

It’s important, too, that collectively we initiate a similar conversation with our fans. The FIA and its members must be open and consistent if we want to move the needle.

I like to say that climate action is a team sport and I believe that motorsport will be a key player.