Kenyan rugby player wins Olympic Climate Action Award

Kenya Olympic rugby sevens player Kevin Wekesa has won an International Olympic Committee (IOC) award for his efforts to address climate change and make sport more sustainable.

Wekesa, along with Olympic hockey player Hugo Inglis from New Zealand, the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands (NOC*NSF) and the International Biathlon Union (IBU) have been named the winners of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Climate Action Awards 2025.

The announcement was made during the IOC Session held in Milan, ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

Wekesa, 25, founded Play Green to use sport as a platform for climate action, responding to the rising temperatures and desertification that are already disrupting livelihoods across Kenya.

The programme has so far replaced single-use plastic bottles with reusable aluminium bottles for Kenya’s national rugby teams, saving nearly 1,000 plastic bottles every week.

At the same time, Wekesa, who has played international sevens for the past five years, has embedded sustainability into education and community engagement.

Through partnerships with 40 schools, Play Green combines tree-planting with workshops on water conservation, waste management and climate justice. To date, the initiative has supported the planting of 2,300 trees and engaged thousands of children in climate education.

Wekesa has extended this work to clubs and federations, launching match-day recycling initiatives and installing clearly marked recycling bins and collection points to divert waste from landfill.

His ambition is to scale Play Green nationwide by introducing plastic-free stadium zones, encouraging biodegradable packaging and establishing a Green Ambassador programme in schools.

With the support of this award, Wekesa aims to turn these plans into a replicable model for grassroots climate action through sport.