Comment on cricket and climate change

It's fantastic that Lords is showing us the way in clean energy, James Heappey says

By Jonny Marshall

info@eciu.net

Share

Commenting on figures published by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) showing the impact climate change is having on cricket in Britain, James Heappey, Member of Parliament for Wells, said:

Lord’s has become the first cricket ground in the country to run on 100% renewable energy. Image: Peter Meade, creative commons licence
Lord’s has become the first cricket ground in the country to run on 100% renewable energy. Image: Peter Meade, creative commons licence

“No three words are more depressing for a cricketer than ‘rain stopped play’; and while being rained off is an occupational hazard, the suggestion that climate change is making it happen more often will be unwelcome to anyone who loves our great summer sport.

“We do however have defences against climate change, and the way to get on the front foot is to build a clean energy economy that doesn’t produce more and more carbon pollution. Lords is showing us the way, and it’s fantastic that the ‘Home of Cricket’ has broken the mould and committed to running on 100% clean energy.

“With the cost of solar panels and battery storage collapsing faster than the Australian tail before Broad and Anderson, this is an option that’s increasingly attractive to cricket clubs up and down the country as well.”

Statistics released by the MCC, owners of Lord’s, show that extreme weather in December 2015, linked to climate change, caused more than £3.5 million worth of damage across 57 cricket clubs.