Two days before the opening ceremonies of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Norwegian skier Nikolai Schirmer delivered a petition to the International Olympic Committee in Milan.
This year’s games have drawn criticism for making Italian oil giant ENI a premier sponsor.
The Ski Fossil Free petition demanded that the IOC and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation publish a report evaluating the ethical, environmental and health implications of fossil fuel sponsorships in winter sports.
“Most energy companies ignore the science and are continuing to invest heavily in the number one threat to winters, fossil fuels, all while greenwashing themselves with marketing like ENI’s sponsorship of the Olympics,” Schirmer said in a press release.
This is part of a pattern, the signatories argue, with last year’s World Ski Championships sponsored by a Norwegian petroleum company. Several fossil fuel companies are also the main sponsors of national teams.
Erin Sprague is CEO of Protect Our Winters, a Boulder-based nonprofit that partners with athletes like Schirmer to promote climate advocacy.
“The Olympic Games won't continue if we don't solve climate change,” Sprague said. “We already know how few venues are going to be eligible in the coming years. We know how challenging snow making is going to become, and we want our winter athletes to be competing at this level forever.”
A recent study found that more than half of potential Winter Olympics host locations could become unreliable by 2050.
Protect Our Winters has 12 athletes competing in Milan who joined more than 20,000 people in signing the Fossil Free petition.
“Fossil fuel companies don't have a good record of telling the truth about the harm their products cause,” Sprague said. “We're encouraging the IOC to be more thoughtful about who they partner with.”
Sprague said fossil fuel companies operate with a social license, or informal public approval, because most people don’t realize how culpable those companies are for the climate crisis.
Sponsoring an inspirational event like the Olympics reinforces that social license, she said, slowing the transition away from fossil fuels.
Environmental advocates have also criticized the Winter Olympics for the impact of building new infrastructure and using millions of gallons of water to make snow.
“A lot of people ask me about whether the Olympic Games are sustainable or not, and that's the wrong question, because fossil fuel companies produce hundreds of times more carbon pollution than any single Olympic Games,” Sprague said.
As Colorado faces a historically low snowpack year, research has shown the western U.S. could see a little-to-no snow future within the next few decades.
Burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas is by far the primary cause of climate change.
“We want families to be enjoying the magic of a powder day and the connection that brings,” Sprague said. “So let's solve the most important problem, which is we just need to stop burning things.”
