Arsenal back climate summit

Many supporters will be aware that we are currently in the midst of COP28, which started last Thursday in Dubai and runs until Tuesday, December 12. COP stands for “Conference of the Parties”, where the “parties” are the countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992.

Members, or parties, of COP including China, USA, the EU and the United Kingdom are meeting to address the ever-increasing effects of climate change. As has been widely documented, global increase of temperature above 1.5°C is predicted to have very serious consequences upon our planet. It is hoped COP28 will help keep alive the goal of limiting long-term global temperature rises to 1.5ÈC. This was agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015 and remains a critical goal for the countries attending COP28 this year.

The 1.5°C target is crucial to avoid the most damaging impacts of climate change, according to the UN. Long-term warming currently stands at about 1.1°C or 1.2°C compared with pre-industrial times – the period before humans started burning fossil fuels at scale. The predicted temperature increases, if we continue on our current path, vary but have been predicted to be as high as 2.7°C by 2100. These worrying predicted increases will hopefully stir our global leaders into taking action to ensure we leave the planet in a better state than we found it.

While it is easy to be overwhelmed by the extent of the problem, it is still within our control and we can – and must – take action on a personal scale. We, the global Arsenal family, can make a difference, be it not using cars as much or switching to renewable energy or even replacing our traditional light bulbs with LED alternatives, every action regardless of size, will have a positive impact.