Roger Federer responds to Greta Thunberg's criticism, says he has 'great respect' for climate activists
Tennis great Roger Federer issued a response on Saturday, January 11 amidst increasing criticism, particularly from teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, over his sponsorship deal with Credit Suisse.
Federer, in his response, said, "We owe it them and ourselves to listen," while referring to young climate activists.
Credit Suisse, a Switzerland-based bank, has heavily invested in the fossil fuel industry. There have been rampant protests against the bank by Swiss activists since November 18 after nearly a dozen environmental activists entered the bank's Lausanne branch in tennis gear and disrupted the routine activities.
The activists reportedly held up banners reading: "Credit Suisse is destroying the planet. Roger, do you support them?”
The activists were subsequently ordered to pay EUR 20,000 fine for the disruption, however, they appeared in court last Tuesday after refusing to pay the fine, the Guardian reported.
The lawyers of the activists, who are mostly students, reportedly appealed the fine arguing that they were acting as whistleblowers for the climate emergency.
Ever since their court appearance, multiple people took to social media to make the activists' calls go viral with the hashtag #RogerWakeUpNow.
Thunberg was among the hundreds of people on Twitter to retweet a post from climate activist group 350.org.
The tweet reads: “Since 2016 @CreditSuisse has provided $57 BILLION to companies looking for new fossil fuel deposits—something that is utterly incompatible with #ClimateAction. @RogerFederer do you endorse this? #RogerWakeUpNow.”
Days after the hashtag began trending, Federer, who is in Melbourne preparing for the Australian Open, responded to the issue over the weekend through a statement.
The tennis legend, however, did not directly address his relationship with Credit Suisse.
"I take the impacts and threat of climate change very seriously, particularly as my family and I arrive in Australia amidst devastation from the bushfires," Federer’s statement sent to Reuters read.
“As the father of four young children and a fervent supporter of universal education, I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the youth climate movement, and I am grateful to young climate activists for pushing us all to examine our behaviors and act on innovative solutions. We owe it to them and ourselves to listen. I appreciate reminders of my responsibility as a private individual, as an athlete, and as an entrepreneur, and I’m committed to using this privileged position to dialogue on important issues with my sponsors," the statement added.
Meanwhile, Credit Suisse recently issued a statement saying it is "seeking to align its loan portfolios with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and has recently announced in the context of its global climate strategy that it will no longer invest in new coal-fired power plants."
