“Sportswashing” is back in the spotlight, with news that South32’s Illawarra Metallurgical Coal (IMC) has made a three-year $150,000 investment in UCI legacy event Ride Wollongong.

Local climate-conscious cyclists such as Jess Whittaker – who repurposed her free South32 hat during the UCI races by embroidering "end coal” on it – boycotted the debut South32 Ride Wollongong, held in the city on September 23 and 24. Nor would she attend future festivals: “If South32 have naming rights in 2024 and 2025, I will still boycott, because I don't ride bikes for coal mines.” 

“Events, spaces and groups that align themselves with mining corporations like South32 will find they alienate segments of the community that would otherwise support them,” said Coalcliff GP Dr Rada Germanos, a spokesperson for grassroots group Protect Our Water Alliance (POWA).

“Certainly many environmentally minded cyclists in the Illawarra quietly boycotted the event – it's embarrassing to see this blatant sponsorship in 2023.”

The funding information comes from IMC, which published the amount in its publicly available Dendrobium Community Consultative Committee Meeting Minutes for 10 August 2023.

As reported in September's South32 sponsors Ride Wollongong article, event organiser Destination Wollongong did not answer questions about how much money the mining company had contributed. For this follow-up report, the Illawarra Flame asked Destination Wollongong if there would be an event review and if South32 would retain naming rights in 2024 and 2025.

Destination Wollongong – which receives 85 percent of its annual funding from Wollongong City Council but is a separate entity, with an independent board and its own charter – replied with this statement: “Destination Wollongong were extremely pleased that a large number of locals came out to celebrate the anniversary of our Olympic moment, the 2022 UCI Road World Cycling Championships. We look forward to working with the event operator, Elite Energy, to continue to grow the event into the future.”

“It’s concerning that there isn't more transparency from this council-funded tourism body,” said Dr Germanos. “I think people of Wollongong deserve to know what our council is doing with our money, in our name. We'd love to see some clear policy from bodies like Destination Wollongong regarding funding and sponsorship, to ensure that any revenue streams align with community expectations, especially with existential issues like climate change becoming more prominent by the day.”

For locals concerned about the climate emergency – which Wollongong City Council officially recognised in 2019 – the University of Wollongong’s Dr Nadia Zainuddin said there would be a “serious disconnect” in seeing organisations accept funding from fossil fuel companies that are part of the problem.

Dr  Zainuddin, a researcher at UOW’s School of Business and an expert in the power of marketing to influence social and behavioural change, said South32’s sponsorship of Ride Wollongong is an interesting example of social licensing.

“We know that social licensing is really about that acceptance of a company's business practices … that implicit acceptance by a variety of stakeholders, including the general public,” she said.

“So you've got an event like Ride Wollongong, which is about addressing climate change through sustainable transport, and yet you've got a mining company basically that has been accepted as a sponsor. This type of decision demonstrates that there is that sort of social licensing problem, at least within some areas of the community.”

Dr Zainuddin said cyclists refusing to take part in the festival showed critical thinking. “They’re recognising that there's a disconnect between what an event is supposed to be all about and an event supporter that has been chosen for that event.”

At a community level, where it was dubbed a “bikewash”, Ride Wollongong has copped criticism from day one, when the festival was announced on July 20 at a Lang Park media call. There, as the Flame reported in September, organisers staged photos involving Wollongong’s lord mayor and a mining representative riding a tandem bicycle.

After the launch, Dr Jennifer Rayner, head of advocacy at the Climate Council, described South32’s naming rights sponsorship of Ride Wollongong as “sportswashing”, a form of greenwashing, and an attempt to buy social licence and promote a positive image.

It’s a subject increasingly pertinent for event organisers nationwide, with the Climate Council publishing a new voluntary code for organisations in May this year titled Calling Time: How to Remove Fossil Fuel Sponsorships from Sports, Arts and Events.

As one of the first members of POWA, which was founded by volunteers in early 2019 to protect the Greater Sydney water catchment, Dr Germanos has noticed that sportswashing is pervasive locally.

“We see it here in Wollongong, with the Ride Wollongong events only the latest in the line of many wholesome community events sponsored by mining companies,” she said.

“We've also seen local health services and community spaces sponsored (read: branded) by South32 as well.

“Further afield, there are many prominent examples of sportswashing (e.g. the Santos Tour Down Under), as well as sports teams pushing back on such sponsorship (e.g. the Australian Diamonds netball team). It’s insidious, and we need to collectively call it out and push for change."

In the Illawarra, where the first mining operation began at Mount Keira in 1848, coal mining companies have funded countless community initiatives over the decades, from children’s playgrounds to fire-fighting equipment, from social clubs to sports teams. 

Asked if there was a right or wrong answer to accepting sponsorship from fossil fuel companies in the future, Dr Zainuddin said: “I think that this is going to be an increasingly ethical and moral dilemma for people … we're talking about really complex and multifaceted issues here, but sometimes the answer is really simple.

"If we really just look at, what are our values? Do we care about people? Do we care about the community? Do we care about our planet? Do we care about our environment? Do we care about maintaining the environment for future generations, our grandchildren and our grandchildren's children?

“The answer is really simple – that we really shouldn't be doing these types of things like accepting money from corporates that are actually contributing to the problem. Not just mining companies, but oil and gas companies. So the answer is simple, but then I think solving the problem is complex.”