I am the founder and Director of Earthdive. 37 years ago I founded and organised a charity event called Sport Aid. 19.8 million people took part in 274 cities and 89 countries and delivered a ‘petition of blistered feet’ to the doorstep of the United Nations in New York. They demanded help for victims of the African Famine – and they got it! They raised US$35 million on the day and at a UN Special Session on Africa that followed, US$150m of African debt was cancelled.
It taught me that together, we can help change the world and now I need your help to unite the world again, this time to save our planet.
As a scuba diver I have witnessed the devastating effects climate change has had on our oceans. Record-breaking heat waves, rising sea levels and retreating glaciers are also devastating evidence of how human activity is rapidly changing our climate.
We expect world leaders and policymakers to fix it. But will they? Can they? We entrust these people to come together each year at COP (the climate change conferences) to solve the climate problem but the politics of today always takes precedence over our children’s future.
I want us to unite together again – like in Sport Aid. This time, putting pressure on the policymakers at COP 28 and with us, leading by example.
Small actions by us all can have a huge impact. We can help bend the curve of emissions by reducing our own carbon footprint to a minimum and demand that world leaders and people at the ‘levers’ do the same.
For the past 18 months, myself and a small team of volunteers in the tiny village of Harlington in Bedfordshire have created Get2COP. At its heart is a dedicated iOS and Android App. It is FREE to download from the App Store and Playstore.
Get2Cop is a Climate Solidarity Pact!
The App enables everyone in the world to take part and unite; in groups of friends, families, villages, towns, schools, clubs, companies or even countries. It sets a route from wherever you are in the world, to COP 28 in Dubai. The App counts all group steps and moves a climate avatar (of your choice) along the virtual route in real-time. As Avatars arrive at COP, each person can deliver a pledge to reduce their own emissions and demand action from our policymakers now!
Avatars can be viewed on a global map along with leaderboards and other interactive options.
I need your help to make it happen and grow. As a father and a grandfather, I want a better, more sustainable world for all our children. Sport Aid proved that together we can put pressure on policymakers and help change the world we live in.
Let’s do it again.
Thank you so much.
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