In the Marshall Islands, football is more than just a game. It is a fight for survival. The island nation, home to just 42,000 people, is battling rising sea levels threatening to wipe it off the map. Now, its football team is using the sport to send a message about climate change, starting with a kit that is vanishing before our eyes.
Football in the Marshall Islands is only just beginning. Until recently, the country had no team and no 11-a-side pitch. Their first full-size pitch, built for the 2023 Micronesian Games, only got approval because it also serves as a sea defence. That is how serious the climate threat is.
This year, the Marshall Islands Soccer Federation launched the no home jersey. Decorated with the islands’ unique flora, fauna and cultural emblems, the design carries a powerful message. The number 1.5 is printed on every jersey, marking the 1.5 degrees Celsius global temperature rise that could be catastrophic for Pacific island nations. In addition, each time the federation posted an image of the shirt online, more of the shirt disappeared, mirroring the land being lost to the rising ocean. That is why they used football to tell their story and fight back.
Green Football’s Great Save is using the power of football to protect our planet. Just as the Marshall Islands’ disappearing kit highlights the threat of rising seas, football waste is another crisis harming the game. Every season, 120,000 grassroots matches in the UK are cancelled due to flooding. Now, fans, clubs, and leagues are stepping up to make the great save, keeping kit in play instead of throwing it away.
