“I refused sponsors for ecological reasons”, confides Nikola Karabatic

We are used to seeing him engage without counting in the opposing defense to take the direction of the goal. But handball player Nikola Karabatic is also committed to the fight against global warming. Using his notoriety to educate the general public, he wants to get his sports colleagues on board and hopes to convince clubs and managers to take ecology into account in their decisions.

Where does your green awareness come from? What was the trigger to put your notoriety at the service of the defense of the environment?

It dates from ten years ago, with a real awareness of the climate and ecological emergency in which we are. It became even more important with the birth of my children, realizing the state of the planet they will inherit. When I was young, I only had the hand in mind. Everything around it touched me but it wasn’t the most important thing in my life then. Today the hand is still important, but I understood a lot of things growing up: how the world works, society, politics… I really feel like a citizen and more “than” a handball player.

What are your everyday eco-friendly actions?

As a family, we have drastically reduced or almost eliminated the consumption of meat and fish. When we consume it, we ensure that it is quality meat, from animal-friendly farms, and on short circuits. We buy in local shops and not in large brands whose money goes to tax havens or investment funds: we try to be an actor with our credit card and our voter card too. For travel, we don’t have a car, we get around by bike, we try to take only the train. We sort the waste, even if we would like to do a little more: we are in an apartment so the compost is a little complicated.

Exactly, what are your brakes?

Most of the travel with the team in France is by train. But in the European Cup, we are forced to take the plane. In fact, there are a lot of actions that cannot be taken individually. For example, the ban on plastic packaging must emanate from the decision of politicians, the cancellation of certain airline lines too.

In the locker room, is it easier to discuss your team’s defense system or environmental protection?

There are a lot of different generations in the locker room. And it’s easier to talk about it with older people. I notice that those who are fathers of families are really sensitive to the fight against global warming. Between us, we wonder if we saw the last report on the subject, we discuss it … As for the youngest, they know but it goes a little over their heads (he smiles). I still see some, and it distresses me, who use plastic water bottles when they can afford to buy a gourd.

Things are being put in place, with among others the “Green Zone” in the hand league (read box). One example among others that concrete things happen …

Yes, and I am also involved with Julien Pierre, the former rugby player, who with “Fair play for planet” will create a label for sports clubs respecting a charter for the environment with fairly tough specifications validating the various procedures. clubs. Even competitions. The label is somewhere to give ratings to federates, and perhaps in the future, at the governmental level, we could decide to help well-rated federates. And those who have lower grades, for example take away their subsidies … We are also going to create a charter for committed sportsmen. It is things like that which will find an echo with clubs, federations, which will then want to be attached to the train. Some by true will, others a little by greenwashing but that’s okay, the important thing is to get there.

Do things still bother you at the top level?

When we see, for example, the reform of the Champions League in football with more teams, more matches, it is not going in the right direction in fact. A lot of teams in certain sports, and especially those with more financial means, still take planes to make trips of 30 minutes: these are not very good signals. It has been decided that Euro football will be played in I do not know how many cities, which will induce an impressive number of trips for fans and supporters, and we know that this is where sport has an impact. huge negative impact on the environment… well we see that it remains complicated. And I’m not very optimistic about it.

Do you apply eco-friendly standards when it comes to sponsorship? You refused for that reason?

Yes, I try to challenge my personal sponsors. And then, when Butagaz, who created a foundation that works for the energy renovation of buildings, suggested that I do some actions with them and I asked them to sit on the foundation. So I’m part of the board and I’m super happy about it. It happened recently that I refused sponsors for this, yes. Today I can afford to sort it out and choose partners who are in the same state of mind.

#notlast 👉 https://t.co/ZjqCmzsWUz https://t.co/EWZSzJSzmM

– NIKOLA KARABATIC (@NKARABATIC) September 18, 2020

You are attentive to current events around ecology, such as that of the Climate law for example. It is not so easy to take a stand in such a political debate …

It is true that this is a political issue, and at the same time politics affects us all as citizens. Politics is the public domain, the mistake would be to disconnect from it and leave it in the sole hands of those who govern us. No, those who govern us are there to serve us. Whether we like it or not, we all play politics. For me now it is important to keep me abreast of what is being done, to know the laws that have been passed, to see that the Climate law is not up to the task, to see that the Citizens’ Convention which was a brilliant initiative has seen its proposals retouched. I see that we are moving forward, but not fast enough.

Other handball players have entered politics … Will we ever see your name on a green list in elections?

I don’t know at all, it’s complicated to say. I will dream of being drawn like in the film Tomorrow by Cyril Dion, where we see that the best forms of democracy are by lot. A bit like the Citizens’ Convention: you are drawn then you work and get involved. I have a political commitment by what I do as a citizen, but to do it while being on a list, for the moment not.

We have the impression that you regret not having been drawn for the Citizens’ Convention …

(Laughs) No, I wouldn’t have had the time anyway! But I found the initiative great and I think it gave us a lot of hope.

How do you make sure that there will be other ambassadors to come behind you? Could raising awareness in training centers be a key?

I don’t know if it can be integrated into player training. I think that it must above all be integrated into education, awareness in schools. The film Tomorrow speaks about it moreover: education is one of the pillars for the transition. At the level of training centers, I think that some have sensitivities, others do not, but in fact it has to come from above: the club is a bit our state when we are high level athletes . It is therefore necessary that the clubs embark on this path. I think that today they all have CSR managers, well I hope, but we probably need one or two players from their team to challenge them on this. It’s also complicated because we see that in hand, like in football, they are now a little more focused on their economic survival with the coronavirus crisis which has affected their economic model.

Is it easier to get involved when you have your status as an accomplished, famous player who has nothing more to prove?

I don’t know if it’s easier (He hesitates)… Maybe, because I have achieved all my dreams, although I still have things to do in my active career. The fact of having achieved all my goals maybe helped me to set others and a little bit outside handball. I see young players getting involved, but it is true that it is often athletes with more experience who begin to realize that they can use their notoriety wisely. What I expect from the athletes I admire is no longer just results on the pitch but also those who make things happen. But I think that the essential stake today is to succeed in reaching our leaders, our policies, because it is they who have the real power of decision and of change.