S2:E1. Welcome, Melissa! Welcome, Everyone!

Series two of Emergency on Planet Sport has arrived with new episodes dropping every Wednesday and a new co-host!  After injury wrecked her Tokyo Olympic dream, international rower Melissa Wilson has new priorities; firstly, developing her organisation "Athletes of the World" and, secondly, plonking herself on the EOPS sofa next to Jonathan Overend!  We're going to look at the positive solutions being found within the broad sports community to tackle the climate emergency with stories and case studies.  We want to focus on the collaborative work in this space and give a voice to success stories.  We know how bad the global situation is, and hopefully by now we've understood the risk to sport in the short term.  Now we need to act.  And many within sport are acting. Melissa is one of the most respected voices in this area and it's great to have her on board for this new series.  In this opening episode, she and Jonathan chat through the aims for the new episodes and assess progress since January 2021 when the first series of EOPS was released, to global acclaim.   Time Codes: 00:30 Melissa reflects on her journey "evolving away from rowing" which leads her, conveniently to the EOPS sofa. 01:30 Jonathan talks about the reaction to series one and why we're back. Melissa sounds excited. 02:50 Where are the leaders?  Come and talk about your challenges and complexities.   03:30 That vulnerability is important, says Melissa, and exciting.  We have something to achieve and overcome. 04:30 This is a UK-based podcast; so bringing you case studies will mean the majority will be UK-based.  Plus global climate facts. 06:45 Melissa says the first series opened her eyes and ears to the global emergency.  08:00 Is there more engagement within sport than 18 months ago?  Is this in the in-tray of the top executives, therefore at the heart of the big organisations? 10:00 Vocabulary is important, says Melissa.  Big ambition needs to trump marginal gains. 11:15 Jonathan drops the "R" word and instantly regrets it, schooled by Melissa's omnipresent common sense. 12:45 The rate of fossil fuel production continues to strike a sinister warning.  Melissa turns on a bathtub analogy. 14:15 Melissa: "Unless we react in an urgent and ambitious way, we will look back and think this was good."  16:30 Jonathan suggests, rather than scary, the challenge should be seen as exciting and the opportunity to shift the dial. 17:30 Which sector of society will make the scale of impact required, if not sport?  It's a good question... 18:40 Melissa's metaphors move from bath-tubs to penalty shoot-outs.  Can we address our fears? 19:30 "This is a match we can win!"  [Melissa for PM; Editor] 20:00 Jonathan wants leaders to harness the fight.  Sport is full of them; so where are they on the biggest topic? 21:30 Which leads us neatly to Athletes of the World, Melissa's new organisation.  Tell us more... 22:15 Did she get a reply from the UK Prime Minister to the letter sent ahead of COP, signed by 300+ GB athletes? 23:10 Some creative ideas for athletes to drop into interviews.  Change the tone of the conversation... 24:45 Melissa sets out her two main goals; athlete education and bringing athletes together through campaigns. 26:30 Referencing Greta Thunberg, Melissa makes the point you don't need to be a superstar to make a wide impact. 27:00 Jonathan explains that we're going on a tour of organisations who took the trouble to get in touch after series one. 28:15 Get in touch: [email protected]  @planetsportpod on the socials.