On what we can all do to help better protect the planet. Over the next half an hour, well introduce you to this years winners from All Over The World and a variety of sports. But ourfirst winner of the young sportsperson of the year is from a little bit closer to home. Im on the way to devon to meet innes fitzgerald, who, a yearago, at the age ofjust 16, put her environmental principles above the start of her International Athletics career. Innes, congratulations. What you have done has been something that is really inspirational. How do you feel getting this award . Yeah, ifeel like its a real privilege. I never set out to achieve awards from this. Ijust wanted to raise awareness about, like, climate related issues within the athletics and sporting world, trying to get up and coming athletes think about what theyre doing, and their impacts on the climate as well. Earlier this year, innes turned down the opportunity to compete in the Cross Country championships in australia because of the impact flying there would have on the environment. It was like, well, i can go there and i might do really well, but can ijustify, like, taking that flight with just doing, like, one race, running for, like, five minutes . Which, obviously, would mean so much if i was to, like, do really well, but, like, the emissions from that flight is just so great, and ijust, at the time, couldnt justify it at all. Ready . Three, two, one, go. What was that conversation like with you . Did she talk to you about it beforehand . Yeah, we talk about it, and, obviously, it factors into what training were doing if someones going to be going, you know, peaking again, for another champs. And its not a problem. If thats what innes wants to do, thats what were doing. Its not like its a major deal. When youre a junior, thats huge for you going to those champs. Its a massive sacrifice for innes. But in terms of development in the long term, it doesnt change anything. Did you face any backlash at all to that . I mean, theres always someone. Yeah. I was trying not to, like, get too down on reading, like, comments and stuff online, but i kind of, like, were thinking, look, ive decided to do this. I just need to stay strong and just believe in myself. Although other people might be belittling my, kind of, decisions, but its definitely really empowering when i get, like, messages from other people saying, look, im so grateful for what youve done, or, like, im now changing this in my life. Gives me confidence that, actually, what im doing is making a bit of a difference. Three, two, one, go. Go. Coach has said, take a break, innes. Innes has said, no chance. I think its really hard, especially for young people, knowing that theres an opportunity, and then being torn by it because, like innes has often said, she finds that the personal impact of the Climate Crisis upsets her. But shes also wanting to perform. She senses an opportunity to go there to win. And shes feeling conflicted. Obviously, i would be so proud if she had been there, but then i was so proud with how the story caught on and the way in which it was portrayed and people thinking, well, yeah, we do need to make a stance on this. The other side to that, i mean, there may have to come a time where you are going to have to go to these events. Not necessarilyjust for the times on the track, which you are smashing, but soaking in that atmosphere, getting used to the whole process of it all, competing against the best across the world as well. Yeah, no, definitely. Obviously, i want to go as far as i can on the global stage and do as well as i can, but there might be sacrifices i have to make along the way. So is this a case where youre not necessarily saying that you wouldnt rule out flying or going to other places, but you just want to think long and hard about it . Yeah, i dont want to make decisions now about what ill do in the future. I think it willjust come with time. Obviously, id love to go to world champs and the olympics one day, but i kind of want to make sure i think all the decisions i make through thoroughly. Well done, guys. Good job. The stance that innes has been taking, do you think that is rubbing off on other athletes or others shes trained with, in some way they look up to her . Yeah, i think cos innes is fast, the youngsters just love her anyway. So whatever innes does, shes like their hero, i think. I really hope in the future therell be more green decisions that are made, like, within the governing bodies. And i think itsjust about working together, working with each other, working with Different Companies that can help provide greener and sustainable ways of doing things than just, like, the norm nowadays. I think i shouldnt feel restricted just because i want to speak out about the problems that we have. I feel like i should be able to balance that and do well in my running as well. Well done, innes. Youve been amazing on and off the track and you thoroughly deserve this green sports award, young Athlete Of The Year 2023 from the bbc. Thank you. Well done. Its brilliant to see someone like innes at the start of her career taking a stand, and we hope she goes on to bigger and better things. But making a difference can happen at all levels of sports. Im about to meet the winners of our next award for Grassroots Organisation of the year, and its going to a group of people who are using football to help save the rhinos in southern africa. Chanting matt, first of all, just tell us a little bit about the origins of the rhino Champions League. The Rhino Cup Champions League came from. How can we help uh, stop young men from going into the Wildlife Reserve to kill that animalfor profit . Its sometimes tempting to go into communities and say, heres why you shouldnt kill a rhino. What were doing with the Rhino Cup Champions League is bringing something that people love. Mm. Football. Where did the idea come from . It was their idea. Thats why its a success. We asked, how can we help . And their answer was, football. Every Small African Village has a football field. The passion and the skill was there. All we brought is the organisation of a proper league. Boredom and idleness are two of the biggest reasons to become a poacher. These poachers dont like doing it. But, imagine, you have nothing else to do, and you make a lot of money. You know, people just want to live. And unfortunately, poaching is the most profitable thing right now in the villages we operate in. But what we laugh about later is that the majority of people thought it was a sting operation. That we. Wow. Had our research and were bringing everybody to the soccer pitch to arrest people. How big of a problem was poaching in mozambique . So, when we started the rccl, there was about 100 young men each year getting arrested, getting killed, or simply disappearing, from these villages where we have the Rhino Cup Champions League. Now, since 2016, theres only been three. Chanting in namibia, actually, last year, rhino poaching more than doubled. But zero, zero rhinos poached where we have the Rhino Cup Champions League. It is keeping young men busy, giving them hope, and the whole community is gathering. And its bringing love, compassion to the wildlife, because thats whats supporting this Football League. But also, at the same time, youre educating people as well, arent you . Correct. And we have a mascot named davey, and davey is a rhino. All the kids at the games love to be around davey. And so its just another Entertainment Source at the field why people come and bring their children. Instead of sitting people down in rows and desks and saying, heres why you shouldnt kill the rhino. Heres davey. Have fun with him. Children singing theres a lot of Gender Equality in this league as well, isnt there . The girls league, actually, is what im most excited about. Currently we have 420 girls players. And we still do the same thing, pay for transportation, pay for refs, prize money. But we also. A sponsor, for instance, donated sports bras. So the girls league is growing, and its something we want to really focus on now because its making such an impact with these girls staying in school. How big do you think it can get . We want to be in the communitys surrounding Wildlife Reserves. Wildlife, local communities, football, thats our thing. The goal is to be the largest and most organised amateur Football League for youth in africa. Cheering from small beginnings, the rhino Champions League is clearly making a big impact in those local communities, which is leading to environmental and social change. And here at bbc sport, were playing our part as well. Im just about to board the train to paris, the first leg of this journey to budapest. You might ask why im not at an airport, and that is because sustainability is becoming a bigger part of all our lives. So come with me. This weekend sees the first green Football Weekend Taking Place and being marked across the country. Its a balance between putting i on this amazing event that does so much good in so many ways, and balancing that| with the fact that there is an environmental impact. Id like to see people worry more about Climate Change. Looking at the overall impact of these world championships, its about, what does that mean to life, to the world, to the way we live . Weve got one of the few sports thats much more than a sport. | 81 domestic flights were taken by Premier League clubs. Now that time covers 100 matches. Today is my day at wimbledon, but there is a twist. Im going to do it as sustainably as i can. For world vegan day, Bbc Sports Daniel Raza has been spending time with green gazelles. The lta have got this initiative over the Grass Court Season about sustainability. Youve been picking up litter today. I think its very important to educate people to take care of the environment. Bbc sport is one of the many organisations using its profile to talk about the Environmental Issues which impact us all. And the winner of our Elite Organisation of the year award has been at the forefront of this campaign for many years. Back in 2017, Forest Green Rovers was named the Greenest Club in the world by fifa. And that was just the start of their journey. There are two ways to bring change to the world. The first is to do everything that you personally can as a person or as a football club. The second is to be a catalyst and cause lots of other people to change. Were100 powered by renewable energy. Weve got solar panels on the roof of the stand. On the hill, weve got a big windmill. We capture the water underneath the pitch and we use it again. Its an organic pitch, which reduces chemical use. Charging points for cars. Weve got Electric Vehicles in the fleet. Weve got no single use plastic. We make our match day food, burgers, sausages, all from plants, all powered by the wind and the sun. Weve done everything that we can around the ground. Dale, thank you so much for your hospitality today. You mention all that so casually, yet there are so many clubs in football and All Around The World that arent cutting their carbon emissions. What do you make of that . Well, i think its mostly a psychological problem. Theres a degree to which people just dont understand the issues. But then theres a kind of fear or mythology around going green. People think that its difficult or it costs a lot of money, or even that fans wont like it. When we took the club vegan, there was a lot of concern around that. The loudest messages we got were that, actually, it would kill the club, that nobody would come, and if they did come, they wouldnt eat the food. Weve disproven that completely. Our crowd is four times bigger now. We sell ten times as much food as we did back then. And i think weve proven a really important thing, actually, that Football Fans are just like anybody else. And if you put the information in front of them, as we have, about the environment and stuff, our fans dont tolerate what weve done, theyve embraced what weve done. What are some of the differences about being a player here in comparison to other clubs youve been at before . Its still a football club. Everythings run. Run the same. Its just the way they do it. And, like, for instance, the food we eat, how we travel, and things like that. For pre season, we try to stay local. Definitely think it opens your mind to it and makes you a lot more aware of the bigger picture. At first i was just obviously invested in football. The times that ive been. Here now, you learn more things, with, obviously, food, with the vegan stuff. I know some lads actually change to a vegan diet. For injury purposes, you know, with Knee Problems and stuff, | and they actuallyl benefited from it. What do you make about the fact that the away fans, when they go to the toilet, what happens to all that waste, its getting recycled onto the pitch to water the lawn and then youre doing your Diving Tackles and Diving Headers . Thats it. Were swimming in it. Yeah. No, i think its brilliant. People actually cant i believe you can do it. Yeah. But, again, Forest Greenj are obviously at the front of it, doing it. A different way. Somebody tells me every game that its changed their life, theyre buying electric cars, solar panels, that kind of stuff. Theyre going veggie and vegan. Theyre changing how they live. Richard, how long have you been a Forest Green Rovers fan . Been a season Ticket Holder with my son for about the last six, seven years. When the changes were first made, i think there was a bit of a kick back and a reaction. If im honest, the noise, certainly from the home supporters, just died down pretty quickly because people soon realised that the food was excellent. Its exposed me to different aspects of sustainability. This season, the boots i wear, theyre recycled and made from recycled materials. So, like, im trying. To intake Little Things in my game as well. My son became vegan about 18 months ago. I challenged my wife and i to do veganuary back injanuary, uh, which we did, and weve been vegan ever since. Thats really interesting cos your son is a Forest Green Rovers fan, isnt he . Thats his first team. Forest green was our first exposure to vegan food. You know, it sort of influenced him, then, to want to take that further and be more curious. Lets talk a little about the future. Where do you go from here . Well, we keep innovating. Were hoping to get an electric team bus in the next 12 months. And we think, maybe, we can travel to half our away games next season by electric coach. We launched an electric airline, actually, a couple of months ago. I mean, one day we might even fly to a game. Give us about three years. But other than that, weve got a new location plant, and we call it eco park, a stadium made entirely out of wood. Well have the lowest Carbon Footprint stadium anywhere in the world. Are you proud of being at Forest Green Rovers . 100 . And obviously, me being a local boy, it makes it sweeter. It Isjust A Village Club that is punching way above its weight, not just in football terms, but also in terms of its global reach. For as long as i can remember, Forest Green Rovers have been the Greenest Football Club in the world. How would you feel if one day another club overtook you to take that title . Id feel pretty good about that, actually. You know, id welcome it. Dale and the whole team at Forest Green Rovers are doing something really special here and hopefully they can be an example for other clubs Around The World to follow their lead. But it can sometimes be a lonely and difficult fight as the winner of our Lifetime Achievement evergreen award can attest to. Chris dickerson was a professional baseball player, and has spent most of his career trying to make changes in his sport. Do i need headphones . No, i dont think you do, pal. You look cool anyway, itd ruin your look, so. Chris, i want to take you back to the start. Where did your interest in the environment come from . Really, it started growing up in southern california. I mean, if you want to talk about a certain place that encompasses all our failures, its california. Habitat loss, overpopulation, water pollution, air pollution. Its all here. But it wasnt till later that i really started to put the pieces together and look back and understood why my, you know, i had team mates On Soccer Teams and baseball teams that couldnt show up to practice because of poor air quality and they had asthma. Did you ever have that sort of moment of realisation where you thought, actually, dyou know, i can see the change . I think, maybe, what youre talking about, that aha moment, is sitting in the locker room and just kind of looking around and seeing the amount of plastic that we use in professional sports. Looking to the side and seeing a 50 gallon trash can full of single use plastic while reading an article saying that plastic stays in the environment for 1,000 years. That was my aha moment. And ifelt, like, if i can make a change and see how we can cut down on plastic, maybe through the use of reusable water bottles, then lets do it. Were down here to clean up the beach, connect with the community, and inspire lasting change in the way that we use plastic. This is where it all starts. This beach clean up represents something bigger than baseball. Lets talk a little bit about players for the planet, then. What were you trying to or hoping to achieve with that organisation in the first instance . I was just hoping to just, kind of, be an example, and just be a beacon of support for what was happening with the environment. Every day we show up to a ballpark and we have a captive audience of 40,000 fans. And thats an opportunity for athletes to step up and be examples of best practices. You know, wearing the green shoelaces just to bring awareness to issues facing our climate, using my reusable water bottle, biking to the stadium, you can make an announcement. Hey, please go return your beer cup to. To the front. Please take your recycling. Sports are so powerful. How have you seen that grow, that expand over the years to where youre at now . We have started with 18 athletes in 2008 and we have, you know, over 275. And these athletes are really starting to use their voice and utilising these social platforms for good. And i think thats been the biggest change. To get athletes down to the dominican republic, getting them involved in beach clean ups. The Young Players see that, they become major leaguers, they take that influence, and those best practices, and now theyre in the spotlight, inspiring more young people in their country and in their sports market. Would you like to see those big names do more . Yeah, 100 . I always joke and say Climate Change can be solved if messi and ronaldo both came out and said, hey, lets save the environment. You would see a massive, massive change. There are so many messages that they can use on their platform that would change, that i honestly feel, like, would change the tide. But thats the power of sport and those two have it. And hopefully we continue to have more of these top world, world superstars that can join the Climate Action fight. Chris, honestly, congratulations. What youre doing, incredibly inspirational. Really, really fortunate to talk to you, and thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it, honoured for the award, and its great having this chat, these meaningful chats, to move progress forward. And again, i truly appreciate it. Chris has dedicated his whole career to making a difference and is a worthy recipient of the evergreen award. Congratulations to him and his organisation players for the planet. So, time for ourfinal award, Athlete Of The Year. And it goes to one of the players at the very top of world cricket, pat cummins, who is using his role as the australian captain to promote change both at the Grassroots Level back at home, and also to impact the wider global game as well. Cummins runs in determinedly down the hill, bowls. Hes edged it, and its caught cummins over the wicket, bowls, and roots edged it. Hes bowled him. Pat, when did your interest in the environment begin . Growing up in australia, you spent a lot of time outside, beaches like this, so i guess ive always had a bit of an interest. Its probably not until the last three or four years that ive really thought a bit more deeply about my personal impact on the planet. I think, firstly, cricket, we play, sometimes, in really extreme weather. Weve had games where its been called off due to bushfire in the middle of summer, any drop of rain or drop in temperature, the conditions change or you cant play at all. And then the nature of international cricket, you travel around a lot, Around The World, you see lots of different places. You have quite a high Carbon Footprint yourself. So itsjust, its always front of mind. But with thats huge opportunity as well. Theres so many stakeholders, so many people that look to a sport like cricket for leadership in this space. Its something that brings a lot of people together. Tell us why you set up cricket for climate. I think number one was i was trying to think of something where i could lighten my footprint. Solar for your house, electric car, all those kind of things in my own life. But i was trying to see where i could make a difference in the community, particularly in the Cricket Community. So, yeah, thought of the idea, initially, of pulling solar panels on my home cricket club. And its kind of gone from there. We want to make a big difference decarbonising as many clubs around australia as we can. Theres loads of other initiatives through every stakeholder of cricket. From the professional level, youve got stadiums, youve got sponsors, youve got travel. Right down to the grassroots. And also, i think the Education Piece is a big one. Id love for every professional athlete or person, really, to be armed with some really good knowledge around their space and solutions that they can introduce everyday to their lives. Yeah, theres over a billion cricket fans Around The World, so theres huge opportunity to make real change there. Are you thinking of some sort of billion strong Cricket Climate Army . Big scale. So, yeah, that would be awesome. Have you run into any dissent or opposition within the Cricket Community or the Broader Community . I think youll always run into people who are looking for an argument or want it not to be real. But thats ok. You know, hopefully we can show a path forward. I think thats really important. A lot of people just throw their arms up and think, oh, its all too hard. But, through action, we can demonstrate that there are some things that can make a difference. In a few days� time, you fly to south africa, then fly on to the world cup in india. Theres a lot of flying there. How do you square that with your Environmental Concerns . Yeah, you know, flying or a lot of things we do is, unfortunately, a side effect of ourjob. No ones ever going to be perfect, but i think everyone could do something a little bit different in their life that might make a big difference. Solar panels in your house, switching away from gas, you know, getting an electric car thats powered by renewable sources. These are significant differences you can do in your life. Do you get the sense that australia and other developing countries are moving fast enough . I think we could always move faster, and i think its up to us to show that this is important to us. Theres a lot of these solutions that we can do today, and theres no Point Waiting to get started. Our Athlete Of The Year, pat cummins, really sums up what the Bbc Green Sport Awards are all about. Hes not afraid to speak out. Hes authentic, and most importantly, hes making significant change. Congratulations to all of our winners. Five brilliant individuals and organisations who have put saving the planet at the heart of everything they do. Be it protecting the rhinos, standing up to Climate Change and flight emissions, leading the way as a sustainable sports club, orjust using your profile to get people talking about the issues that impact us all. But there is still so much work to do. Thanks forjoining us. Hello there. So far this october, weve been building in some pretty big contrasts in terms of rainfall. Parts of the south havent even had a single drop of rain yet, whereas across northern scotland, aboyne in aberdeenshire, weve already had 113 millimetres of rain. Thats already more than an average october. And of course, were only a third of the way through the month. Then we had these Temperature Contrasts on tuesday 26 degrees in writtle near chelmsford in essex, just 13 in lerwick, behind a cold front across the far north of scotland. And over the next few days, as that cold front pushes its way gradually southwards, we are going to see those temperatures drop away. And certainly by the time we get to the weekend, well all be feeling as if autumn has firmly arrived. Mind you, for some of us, the temperatures will be dropping as we look at the weather into wednesday. Heres our cold front, bringing some rain southwards, clearing away from scotland and northern ireland, so the Flood Warnings continuing to fall here. But weve got the Rain Heading In across parts of england and wales. A mild start to the day on wednesday here. A much colder start, though, in scotland, with temperatures down into low single figures in the countryside. Now, weve got this band of rain, this cold front, with us through the day on wednesday, some particularly heavy rain across the hills of mid wales. Could bring one or two impacts here. Some wet weather as well for the midlands and parts of east anglia for much of the day. To the south of our front, its another warm day, with temperatures again reaching the 20s. Otherwise, for scotland, northern ireland, northern england, those temperatures will be dropping away. And it will be blustery for the far north of scotland too, gusts reaching 60 miles hour, driving in plenty of showers here. Now, heading through wednesday night and into thursday, our weather front sinks across into Southern Parts of england. Its very weak by this stage, just a few patches of rain. Temperatures for most of us much closer to the october average. We still have some heat hanging on across the very far south of england. And for a time on friday, we actually get a zone of warmer air pushing back northwards. But with that heavy rain for england and wales, scotland and northern ireland, a day of sunshine and blustery showers. So the cool weather continues across these northern areas. Across the south, more of us will see temperatures climbing back into the high teens to low 20s. But that wont last. Into the weekend, it will cool down properly, with temperatures around about 10 to 1a degrees. And for the mountains of northern scotland, on saturday, itll be cold enough for a little bit of snow over the very mountain tops. Thats the latest. Live from washington this is bbc news. The israeli army reaches a community attacked by hamas on saturday. They find women and children among those killed. The un warns of a humanitarian catastrophe as palestinian Officials Say more than 900 people have been killed in gaza since saturday. The white house promises unwavering support for israel as President Biden describes hamas� attack as an act of sheer evil. Hello, im caitriona perry. Youre very welcome. Further evidence has emerged of the Violent Attacks on civilians by hamas gunmen during their Surprise Incursion into Southern Israel from gaza on saturday. Efforts are under way to recover the bodies of those