The correlates of environmental initiatives in sports organizations with climate change attitudes and subjective well-being

Abstract

Background To recognize the interplay between climate change and public health, this study examines the impact of sports organizations’ environmental initiatives on members’ subjective well-being (SWB) and climate change attitudes (CCA). Drawing on the theoretical tenets of pro-social behavior, organizational initiatives aiming at protecting and improving the natural environment can be viewed as altruistic. This altruism can in turn increase SWB. Methods The analysis uses survey data from the 2022 Eurobarometer, including 27 European countries and 6311 members of different types of sports organizations. Seemingly unrelated regression models were employed to assess the associations of various environmental initiatives with members’ SWB and CCA. Results The total number of initiatives and specific initiatives, such as promoting green energy and waste reduction, are positively correlated with members’ CCA. However, there is no effect on SWB. Conclusion Organizational environmental initiatives may shape members’ attitudes towards climate change but do not seem to affect their SWB. This would suggest that environmental protection does not come at the expense of SWB. Thus, sports organizations represent a context to promote environmental protection along with public health.