In 2020 the dire issues confronting us all were clearly set out.
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 U.N. 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
Back to Poland in Europe, they went in 2008 to hear Tim Flannery tell them:
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.
But there we were in 2020 and what do you know? 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. 2021 may have well been your last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to mend your ways and save the planet.
Or possibly 2022? Who knows?
And so it transpired to be: 2021 was definitely your last [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 your last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to save the earth.
However, it is with great relief that I can announce that the boffins have decided that 2023 is really your last [last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last, last] chance to save the planet.
But hang on a minute, the Australian Climate Council has cunningly slipped the word “decade” into their interpretation of the latest IPCC doom porn.
What does this mean? Do we now have until 2029 now to mend our errant ways?
Who knows? It really is a tad confusing.
“Aim higher”, they implore us, so I leave you with this image encapsulating that entreaty and my suggestion as to where they can deposit the next last chance report.
