#Adapt2Win: World athletes take the stage for climate adaptation ahead of COP30
The final whistle: Adapt2Win, by leading social impact agency WRTHY, is a bet on both narrative and the political muscle of cultural influence. It recognises that climate politics is not decided solely in negotiation halls, but also in living rooms, stadiums and on social feeds. By assembling a global team of athletes, the campaign redefines adaptation as a bold and achievable strategy, rather than a debatable choice.
When award-winning social impact agency WRTHY launches the #Adapt2Win campaign today, it will do so not with a battalion of ministers, treaty lawyers or the usual clutch of policy wonks, but with top-tier athletes.
And, friends, that, in itself, is a story!
Adapt2Win, which launches at 9:30am Brasília time today (12:30pm GMT / 8:30am EST), asks a simple but urgent question: if 2024 set records for heat and disaster, and climate shocks cost the world some $417 billion last year, why does less than 10% of global climate finance go to adaptation? This is a pertinent, piercing question, because investments into adaptation programmes have been shown to effectively help communities withstand extreme weather and safeguard public health. This is why the campaign’s message is categorical that COP30 must deliver investment in adaptation NOW.
But what makes #Adapt2Win notable, and potentially game-changing, is its roster. The campaign is supported by ‘over forty of the world’s most accomplished global athletes’, says WRTHY, including Kenyan sprinter Ferdinand Omanyala and England footballing sensation Raheem Sterling, Nigerian Footballer Kenneth Omeruo, Ghanaian Basketball Player Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Brazilian Big Wave Surfer Maya Gabeira, Thai Martial Artist Stamp Fairtex, and many more.
But, why athletes?
“Adapt2Win injects fresh energy into the climate space by leveraging the influence of culture and sport,” says Jenifer Willig, WRTHY CEO, adding that “by collaborating with global athletes, we’re redefining adaptation as a bold, achievable strategy rather than a sunk cost.”
“Together with athletes, global organisations, and communities on the frontlines, the campaign reminds the world that building resilience today is the only way to secure a safer, healthier tomorrow,” notes Willig.
And that combination of credibility, reach and emotional sway explains why WRTHY has doubled down on some of the world’s greatest athletes as the faces of climate adaptation advocacy.
Historically, high-level climate campaigns have leaned on the gravitas and inside-track access of such political champions as prime ministers, cabinet ministers, and diplomatic envoys. That approach “buys you meeting rooms and line-item promises, but it does not always buy you public engagement or the kind of moral pressure that forces negotiators to act”, says Mohamed Adow, Founder and Director, Power Shift Africa, reacting to the new campaign. Politicians, he adds, argue in the language of treaties, but athletes talk in the language of lives, livelihoods and something people already care about.
“That’s not to say politicians are irrelevant, far from it!” adds Adow. “But athletes bring a different lever, which is cultural salience.”
This campaign joins a notable few others that have experimented with putting athletes at the centre of climate and environmental messaging. For instance, in 2018 the United Nations Environment Programme launched the “Sports for Climate Action” framework, which enlisted figures such as English footballer David Beckham and skateboarder Sky Brown to promote carbon neutrality and sustainable events. That initiative treated athletes as ambassadors of institutional reform, or polite advocates for greener tournaments rather than political agitators.
In Kenya, marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge has repeatedly used his athletic platform to speak about tree planting and conservation, most visibly through the Eliud Kipchoge Foundation, which focuses on reforestation and youth education about climate responsibility. In Nigeria, Asisat Oshoala and Kenneth Omeruo have both supported youth-focused environmental awareness drives, including campaigns encouraging waste reduction and community clean-ups in Lagos. Likewise, South African surfer Jordy Smith and swimmer Chad le Clos have fronted ocean and water conservation efforts, while football clubs like Kaizer Chiefs have launched tree-planting and recycling campaigns under their sustainability arms.
The fact that global athletic giants are joining hands to campaign on adaptation finance in this new project is as strikingly symbolic as it is a powerful call for action. Sport is increasingly vulnerable to climate change as extreme heat forces event cancellations and threatens athlete health; floods and storms damage stadiums and infrastructure; changing precipitation alters playing surfaces; and supply chains for international tournaments are disrupted. These are tangible, widely visible consequences. When a global championship is called off or a marathon becomes a health hazard, the coverage spikes and policy questions follow. Athletes can point to those practical intersections and say “adaptation finance isn’t an optional hedge, but insurance for our lives, livelihoods and communities”.
The campaign's timing, coming immediately ahead of COP30, is strategic. COPs are where political headlines and funding pledges are made, but pledges without teeth are common. By concentrating the spotlight on adaptation finance, Adapt2Win wants to change the metrics of success .Instead of celebrating headline emissions targets alone, the campaign demands that negotiators produce a measurable shift in how money is allocated. The ask is straightforward: close the adaptation finance gap. Adapt2Win also celebrates communities already leading the way with practical, life-saving solutions—from SMS drought alerts in Kenya <adapt2win.org >, to heat-resilient maternal healthcare in Sierra Leone, to targeted malaria prevention in Cameroon. These examples prove that adaptation not only saves lives but also drives sustainable development and resilience.
From a technical communications perspective, WRTHY appears to have calibrated its approach along three axes: moral framing (people first), economic logic (adaptation as growth), and cultural amplification (athletes’ reach). That mix is smart because it addresses multiple audiences at once. Governments respond to voters and to numbers; business responds to risk; and sport fans respond to their heroes. By recruiting athletes who are household names in diverse markets, Adapt2Win is effectively building a pressure coalition that spans constituencies.
There is a subtle political calculation at play when athletes step out of their sporting lane, but the credibility dividend can be enormous. Athletes who come from or train in climate-exposed regions bring lived experiences that are hard to dismiss. Omanyala, for instance, is not an abstract celebrity; he is Kenyan, and Kenya has been hit by recurring droughts and irregular rainfall patterns that affect communities and athletic preparation. That authenticity reduces the space for cynical dismissal and reframes the debate in human terms.
There is also a governance logic. Adaptation finance often requires local implementation, whether in building early warning systems or embankments, restoring mangroves or retrofitting schools, and that needs political will and technical know-how at subnational levels. Athletes who have local roots and global platforms can spotlight community projects and champion successful models, thereby creating a pipeline of replicable ideas. In short, athletes can be more than mouthpieces; they can be connectors between grassroots solutions and international funders.
So, what does success look like?
Success for #Adapt2Win will be measured on at least two planes. First, a concrete shift in negotiation language or funding commitments at COP30 that leads to stronger, time-bound commitments to increase the share of climate finance going towards adaptation and expand mechanisms that deliver money where it’s needed most. And, second, a broader cultural outcome that embeds the message that adaptation finance is not charity, but investment in our collective future. If athletes can help reframe adaptation as jobs, resilience and growth, they will have shifted the political economy of climate finance.
