Written towards the end of COP26. Leaders and delegates claimed they had reached a ‘game changing deal’ despite going back on initial pledges to cease production of coal by 2030. None of the pledges are binding and are still seen as aims or targets. Perhaps game changing agreement should read ‘countries leaders playing with lives of their people, and for time they no longer have’.

Written during COP26 in Glasgow

I apologise to the great bard for this one.

At a critical moment for our planet world leaders have convened to decide the future of our planet. They make pledges but seem to have little dialogue with the young activists who brought the urgency of the world’s situation to their attention. If they are to convince the young that their pledges are beyond pretty platitudes then they need to walk amongst them, talk to them, listen to them and heed their warnings.

The original ideas for this poem stemmed from the antics of Donald Trump, US president (in office 2017 – 2021), who in 2019 turned up in the middle of COP25 to ‘grandstand’ and upstage the world leaders who had attended from the beginning, and to belittle Greta Thunberg and her now famous impassioned speech which acted as a wake-up call to the world. I feel the sentiments expressed still reflect the opinions of a large proportion of environmentalists today. Whilst many high-minded speeches and false promises are made to placate the masses, the world leaders are still playing for time and gain. Playing for time we no longer have, and bargaining with lives of our children.

As delegates assemble for COP26 in Glasgow their pledges to limit global warming will take us well above 1.5 degrees. This is likely to be the maximum temperature rise with which we can cope with without fundementally changing the earth and locking it into spiralling and irreversible temperature increases.

Many populations around the world are already suffering devastating floods, uncontrolable fires and extreme weather events. If global warming can be limited to 1.5 degrees then the number of people exposed to these events could be limited and we could start to rectify the damage inflicted by our species on the earth.

The first love poem in a series of 12, inspired by some of the great poets, past and present who penned works as they yearned, pined, and had their hearts broken. Hopefully our treatment of the planet will not put us in a similar position with a broken heart.