New Zealand Olympic hockey player Hugo Inglis has won the International Olympic Committee Climate Action Award in the Athlete category, recognising his work mobilising elite athletes to fund evidence-based climate solutions.
Inglis was honoured for his role as co-founder of High Impact Athletes (HIA), a movement that channels athlete donations toward organisations tackling climate change at a systemic level.
HIA focuses on sectors that account for a large share of sport’s emissions, including aviation, energy and infrastructure. Since its launch, the initiative has recruited more than 240 athletes and directed over $2 million to selected charities working on climate action, global health and animal welfare.
“The award is a huge mark of credibility,” Inglis said. “Philanthropy is a relationships business. Athletes trust people. Partners trust systems. Recognition like this helps show we’re building something credible across the sports ecosystem.”
Inglis said athletes could play a significant role in accelerating climate action if they applied the same principles that underpin elite sport. “If we apply the same discipline, ambition and teamwork from sport to climate action, the results can be massive,” he said.
He added that HIA was seeking to modernise how athletes engage with giving. “We’re trying to innovate and push the boundaries to make giving cool again,” Inglis said. “We want to empower athletes to share the message that altruism is a good thing, and do it in a way that fits this generation, using all the tools we have to amplify impact.”
The award marks a second consecutive year of recognition for hockey-related initiatives, after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) won an IOC Climate Action Award in 2024.
FIH President Tayyab Ikram said: “In my personal name, and on behalf of the global hockey community, I’d like to wholeheartedly congratulate Hugo Inglis and everyone collaborating with him on his fantastic project,” Ikram said.
“This achievement, following last year’s IOC Climate Award for FIH, speaks volumes about how committed we, as a sport, are to making the world a better place through hockey,” he added.
Another hockey Olympian, Oliver Scholfield, was among the finalists for this year’s and last year’s awards. Scholfield co-founded Racing to Zero, a non-profit sustainability consultancy that helps sports organisations measure and reduce their environmental impact.
Racing to Zero works with national federations and major events to track greenhouse gas emissions and develop sustainability strategies and emission reduction plans, reflecting a broader push within sport to align elite competition with climate responsibility.
