I’ll never forget stepping out on to the pitch in Switzerland for the Euro 2025 tournament. The air felt heavy – not with pressure or expectation, but with heat. It was more than 30C (86f) that day. It makes your lungs sting, makes you feel like you’re running through water.
In the England camp, we had done everything to prepare. Ice vests before training, hydration breaks, modified warm-ups – things that just weren’t part of football life a few years ago. At our base in Zurich we even had cryotherapy and Slush Puppies to cool our core temperatures. During training, there were ice-cold towels, extra rest moments and constant reminders to hydrate. You could feel how carefully the staff planned every detail. But when the whistle blew, no protocol could change the fact that the climate itself has changed.
Beth Mead (left) and Lucy Bronze take part in cryotherapy treatment at England’s Geneva Euro 2025 training camp in July. Photograph: Harriet Lander/The FA/Getty Images
The tempo of the game slowed. Recovery took longer. Every sprint, every tackle, costs a little bit more. This summer’s Euros felt different for me in other ways too. My role as a forward with England had changed – I wasn’t always starting, but I was part of what we call the finishers. You’ve got to be ready to go into any moment, any position, even one you don’t normally play. In Switzerland I dropped into midfield, switched roles mid-game, That willingness to adapt is what makes a team succeed.
We went on to win the tournament – back-to-back European champions. But I walked off the pitch with more than just a medal. I walked away with the realisation that the game I love, the game that’s given me everything, is already being shaped by the changing climate. This isn’t something that’s happening in the future. It’s happening now – on training grounds, in stadiums, and in communities all over the world. Matches are being cancelled because of heatwaves. Training sessions are being moved to dawn or dusk.
Air-quality alerts are becoming part of match prep. Athletes are used to adapting – it’s what we do. But adaptation is critical for us all in the face of climate change. That’s why I’ve joined Adapt2Win, a new global campaign backed by more than 40 athletes from around the world – from footballers to surfers, basketball players to runners, skiers to rugby players – calling on world leaders to invest in climate adaptation now. Because what’s happening on the pitch is only a glimpse of what’s happening off it.
When droughts, floods or extreme heat hit, we are all impacted, but it’s the most vulnerable communities that pay the price. Farmers lose crops. Kids miss school. Families lose homes. Yet less than 10% of global climate finance goes toward helping people prepare for these impacts – which means billions of people are being left unprotected.
Adaptation isn’t about giving up; it’s about finding a way to keep going. It’s about better water systems, smarter cities, stronger health care and fairer access to finance for those who need it most. It’s about resilience – the same quality every athlete trains to build.
Football has always been an equaliser. Anyone can pick up a ball and play – on a beach, a street, a patch of grass. It’s why the game can belong to anyone. But climate change is changing that. Extreme heat is making it dangerous to play outside. Floods wash away pitches. Drought turns fields to dust. The very conditions that make football inclusive – open spaces, shared environments – are disappearing.
If we don’t adapt, the world’s most accessible sport becomes a privilege, not a right. And that’s why this fight matters- not just for athletes at elite tournaments, but for every person who loves to kick a ball around with their friends. I want future generations to grow up in a world where sport still brings people together, where kids can still play outdoors safely, where talent and teamwork decide the game – not the climate.
Visitors to Greenwich Park, London, play football on dry brown grass in 2018. Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images
Right now, at Cop30 in Brazil, global leaders are meeting to decide how the next decade of climate action takes shape. The Cop30 president has described this as the moment to turn the game around and this is what I am hopeful for today. This means investing in solutions that will help people everywhere to adapt to the changing climate now.
Some people argue that focusing on adaptation means taking attention or funding away from cutting emissions. But that’s a false choice. We have to do both. Investing in adaptation isn’t a distraction from tackling the causes of climate change – it’s how we protect people while we do it.
The truth is, adaptation saves lives and drives progress. It’s not charity or compromise – it’s strategy. It’s how we keep sport alive as a force for unity and hope.
As athletes, we push our limits every day. But when the climate is pushing back, it’s time for the world to step up. Because if we can learn anything from sport, it’s that when the odds are stacked against you, there’s only one way to win: you adapt. Now it’s time for the world to do the same.
