The BFD | The ‘Last’ Chance

A long time ago (1989) in a city far, far away (New York), we were all warned. There is no excuse. You were told:

A senior UN environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.

But, by the year 2000 we had not heeded that warning, so countries gathered in Bonn in 2001 and Time reported that it was:

A Global Warming Treaty’s Last Chance.

Moving to Montreal in 2005 the countries were told by Mark Lynas that:

Montreal represents a last [last] chance for action.

They then all jetted off to Bali in 2007, where Tony Juniper from Friends of the Earth told them:

Bali could be the last [last, last] chance to avoid the worst effect of global warming.

In Poland they heard Tim Flannery tell them in 2008:

This round of negotiations is likely to be our last [last, last, last] chance as a species to deal with the problem.

Across the Baltic to Copenhagen they flew in 2009 to hear the European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas say:

This makes Copenhagen the world’s last [last, last, last, last] chance to stop climate change before it passes the point of no return.

Time for a jaunt to Cancun in the Americas in 2010 where Jairem Ramesh, the Indian environment minister said that he saw it as:

The last [last, last, last, last, last] chance for climate change talks to succeed.

Durban, South Africa was the next port of call in 2011 where the UN conference was described by many experts as:

Humanity’s last [last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to avert the disastrous effects of climate change.

Maintaining the alliteration they flew to Doha in 2012 and the 25 November issue of the Examiner posed the question:

Tomorrow: the earth’s last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance with climate change?

Back to Europe and Warsaw for 2013’s junket when we were asked in the Sustainable Mobility issue of 14 November 2013:

Is the Warsaw Climate Change Conference a last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance summit?

Moving on to Lima in 2014, WWF headed an article:

Last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance: Change needed for climate negotiations in Lima 2014.

But Paris called, so in 2015 the BBC told us that:

The UN meeting in December is “the last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance” to avert dangerous climate change, according to the Earth League.

Apparently, we were not listening, so the UN put out a report in 2016.

“Last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance” to Limit Global Warming to Safe Levels, UN Scientists Warn.

Asia was feeling somewhat neglected so a trip to South Korea was required in 2018 where an international panel warned us that it was the:

Last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to curb greenhouse gas emissions and climate change to limit catastrophic effects.

But apparently, there was still one last chance. (Who knew, huh?) So said a study in Leeds in 2019:

There’s Still One Last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] Chance to Avoid Total Climate Catastrophe.

Then 2020 rolled around and, according to the Observer, it was our last chance to listen.

Thirty years ago we were warned. Now is our last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to listen.

I really don’t know what to say… You were warned – but you did not listen. Maybe we would need one last chance in 2021.

And so it transpired to be: 2021 was definitely our last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance for drastic action.

Or was it 2022? There was a question mark in the headline so perhaps the writer was a little unsure on whether or not it was our last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to save the earth.

However, when the boffins released the 2023 IPCC report, they decided that 2023 is really the last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to save the planet.

Apparently, no one took the IPCC report seriously enough and the doom mongers had to get in their private jets and fly to Dubai (the home of fossil fuel) for the latest COP, number 28 in a series of doom-porn gabfests. Predictably we got the perennial ‘last chance’ statement. (Keeps me employed writing posts.) This time it is Dan Jørgensen, Denmark’s climate minister who has been quoted in the Guardian headlines.

So surely that is the final word: 2023 may be our last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to save the earth.

Please don’t let us squander this precious opportunity.

Those paying attention will note that the phrase used was “may be”. Maybe 2024 will be the last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance?

I will report back next year.

However, thanks to the wits at WUWT, we now know what is causing the ever-rising CO₂ levels – private jets and James Shaw flying to COPs. As you all know, correlation equals causation.