How Beach Volleyball Pro Issa Batrane Is Helping To Promote Climate Justice

An interview with Monica Sanders

Be open. Say yes and make yourself available, so that more opportunities come your way. I was slightly nervous at the start but now it’s all good!

Our world is facing a climate crisis of unparalleled magnitude. As this environmental challenge intensifies, public figures like athletes can play a significant role in raising awareness and promoting tangible actions towards climate justice. They have the power to reach diverse audiences, incite collective action, and influence societal attitudes for the better. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Issa Batrane.

Issa Batrane is a British Beach Volleyball athlete representing England and Great Britain on both the domestic and international circuit. As well as being a top athlete, Issa is on a mission to raise awareness about sustainability, climate change, and equality for all. Issa is a proud ambassador for Prevented Ocean Plastic and believes in increasing the demand for more recyclable plastic and preventing plastic waste.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you share with us the “backstory” that led you to your career path in professional sports?

I was a kid that enjoyed trying out lots of new sports. I started playing volleyball in school. Then, back in 2011, I began playing for my local club in Richmond, just outside of London. I found I really enjoyed it and things progressed from there.

The London 2012 Olympics was my first chance to watch volleyball and beach volleyball at an elite level. That was the moment I knew I wanted to be that person on the court one day.

After progressing from regional volleyball teams to the national one, I moved to the English seaside town of Bournemouth to attend a specialist volleyball academy, called the LeAF Elite Athlete Academy. It was there that I took up beach volleyball and discovered I was pretty good at it. In my first summer competition, I claimed the junior national title. Since then, I’ve been driven to reach the highest level possible.

My teammate Freddie Bialokoz and I are now chasing down a spot at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career? What were the lessons or takeaways that you took out of that story?

As an athlete who’s been subjected to racially fueled comments — both via social media and in person — I have come to understand that even those people you believe to be your closest friends, in life or sport, might not always be quite who you think they are.

My biggest takeaway is that, yes, you can trust people and believe in their innate goodness, but you must also always be vigilant. Try to retain a degree of control. Still be who you are but try to keep a level of caution to ensure your own mental security, so that you are in control of your final destination — even if you aren’t totally in control of your journey sometimes.

What would you advise a young person who wants to emulate your success?

Do not be afraid to dream big. Fully chase that dream and ignore what others say or think. I am considered too small for my sport, yet I work hard to ensure I have just as big an impact as the giants around me.

You are the only one in control of where you want to be. There will be twists and turns in the road but have a team around you who have the same vision as you. Go after it, no matter what field it is in.

Is there a person that made a profound impact on your life? Can you share a story?

Every day, it is my mother. She has been there for me every step of the way. She continues to teach and inspire me in so many different ways. As a single parent, she did everything for me and my family. She really showed me the nature of hard work, even if I didn’t quite understand it as a kid.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about what it is like being a professional sports player?

Life is not easier for us as athletes. We put in hours of work, going through physical and mental battles every day — sometimes without much reward. We regularly end up missing special events with family and friends. It really does all take its toll. But the drive and will to succeed means we have to make this choice and sometimes the sacrifices that come with it.

Ok super. Let’s now move to the main part of our discussion. How have you used your success to promote climate justice? Can you share with us the meaningful or exciting initiatives you are working on right now?

As I have improved in my sport and become well-known around different parts of the world, I have tried to use my moments in the spotlight to promote initiatives that help deliver a better tomorrow for the next generation.

Climate justice is one of the most important issues of our times. It’s about recognizing that the impacts of the climate crisis are not being borne equally or fairly. People in other parts of the world are already really suffering. For example, around 50 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing starvation because of a severe drought that scientists have linked to climate change.

When you play beach volleyball, you see the terrible impacts of the environmental crisis in other parts of the world firsthand. So many beaches are polluted by plastic. That’s why I’m working with Prevented Ocean Plastic, a new kind of plastic recycling program that works with coastal communities facing plastic pollution, paying them to collect plastic bottles, so they can then be recycled.

Climate justice is integral to how it works, as the people affected by the pollution can earn a reliable and fair income from helping tackle it. It’s an environmental and social solution that’s setting a standard I hope many others will follow.

I am also one of the British Volleyball’s board members tasked with aligning our sport with UK Sports Environmental Sustainability Strategy, which means planning and creating ways to meet key sustainability goals.

What methods are you using to most effectively share this with the world?

I use social media, which is huge in terms of reaching people all around the world.

When I am back in London, I am also lucky enough to have the opportunity to coach kids in schools. At the end of the session, teachers are always eager for me to talk to the kids about sustainability and making climate conscious decisions.

Most of them are already so passionate about what’s happening to our planet. Again, this can be linked back to climate justice. Young people will be more greatly impacted by the climate emergency than their parents or grandparents. That’s clearly not fair, especially when they are among the least responsible for creating the problem in the first place.

I also run local beach clean ups at Crystal Palace Park in South London, where I am based for training, alongside both the local club there (Deep Dish Beach Volleyball) and a company called BambuuBrush

Can you share with us the story behind why you chose to take up this particular cause?

My mother played an environmental role model in my childhood, in terms of simple things, like recycling and trying to make planet-friendly food choices.

My youngest sister is also eco-conscious, so having conversations with her is always something that inspires me to help raise awareness about making better decisions.

Can you share with us a story about a person who was impacted or affected by your work?

Working with local schools is one of the things I’m most proud of. Getting to coach schoolchildren and inspire them to through Beach Volleyball has been really impactful and it’s been inspiring to see young people get excited by climate action. In one of the schools, following some great conversations about sustainability, the years 7–9 (ages 11 to 14) children started their own Climate Awareness Club.

What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in promoting climate justice, and how have you overcome them?

One big challenge is that people struggle to engage with the issue because they always feel like it’s all doom and gloom — or there’s too much information for them to take in. As a result, I find ways to show the positive solutions that are already happening. I also give bitesize chunks of information, tailored to my audience. By doing this, I hope to improve their engagement levels and hopefully help them feel like they can have an impact.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started promoting sustainability and climate justice” and why. If you can please share a story or example for each. Optional, share a video of yourself, sharing your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started promoting sustainability and climate justice”*.

1. It is equally as important to share the good stuff as the bad. In today’s world there is already so much doom and gloom. For people to be able to engage, they also need to see some positive results from actions that are being taken.
2. I wish someone had explained to me earlier about all the companies that are just greenwashing. They and their misinformation are a big part of the problem. That’s why I work with Prevented Ocean Plastic, which is genuinely trying to address the interlinked environmental and social problems around ocean plastic pollution.
3. Just do it. Action speaks louder than words. I now love just getting on and helping clean up a beach or filming some environmental content for a charity or brand partner. I probably thought too much about it at the start.
4. Be open. Say yes and make yourself available, so that more opportunities come your way. I was slightly nervous at the start but now it’s all good!
5. Understand the importance of climate justice. It’s an unfair system that created the climate crisis and only by making things fairer will we address it.

How has your career as a professional athlete influenced or informed your work in climate justice?

I am blessed that I get to play in some of the most breathtaking locations around the world, but it means I also get to see the destruction of all these beautiful places.

Take Bali as an example. It’s famous for its Instagram-able beaches and yoga retreats, but 33,000 tonnes of plastic waste is dumped in its once crystal clear waters each year.

Seeing all of this makes me want to help drive change so much more. But people should understand that they don’t need to become some kind of perfect ecowarrior. We can all start with small and simple changes, which become significant when done by many people.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea could trigger.

It’s also been inspirational to see how the sports community can come together around key issues. For example, for ‘Global Beach Clean Day’, the global beach volleyball community came together to create beach volleyball courts out of the detritus we find on our coastlines to raise awareness of the scale of the problem.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you explain how that was relevant in your life?

“Success is a process that continues, not a status that you reach. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.” Denis Waitley.

This is relevant for me because some people believe that once you complete something, that’s it, you’re successful. I believe it is a small-minded way of thinking. Yes, we can be happy about a job well done or something good that’s come about due to hard work — but then you need to learn the next lesson to take a further step up the ladder of success. In sport and life, everything is always evolving. You have to adapt, in order to not get stuck in the same place.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Politics, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them :-)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle would definitely be at the top of that list. First, it would be great to meet them, as from the outside they both have such genuine personas. I believe the lengths they go to for causes they’re passionate about is admirable.

It would honestly be amazing to have the opportunity to just talk with them about all the possibilities when it comes to business, life, climate related initiatives and supporting causes they believe in, like women’s and ethnic minorities’ empowerment. I hope it can happen as some point.

How can our readers follow you online?

Instagram: Issa Batrane / BeachTeamBB — https://www.instagram.com/issabatrane/?hl=en-gb / https://www.instagram.com/BeachTeamBB

Twitter: @IssaBatrane1 — https://twitter.com/IssaBatrane1

This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!

About the Interviewer: Monica Sanders JD, LL.M, is the founder of “The Undivide Project”, an organization dedicated to creating climate resilience in underserved communities using good tech and the power of the Internet. She holds faculty roles at the Georgetown University Law Center and the Tulane University Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy. Professor Sanders also serves on several UN agency working groups. As an attorney, Monica has held senior roles in all three branches of government, private industry, and nonprofits. In her previous life, she was a journalist for seven years and the recipient of several awards, including an Emmy. Now the New Orleans native spends her time in solidarity with and championing change for those on the frontlines of climate change and digital divestment. Learn more about how to join her at: www.theundivideproject.org.