'We Have 12 Years to Limit Climate Change Catastrophe'
Guardian: 'We Have 12 Years to Limit Climate Change Catastrophe.' The 12 Years End in 2030.
The 2018 IPCC 1.5C report arrived with a countdown on top. The headline started a dozen-year clock that half the internet is still quoting.
What was said
“We have 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe, warns UN. The world's leading climate scientists have warned there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C, beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.”
— The Guardian (headline and lead on the IPCC 1.5C special report) · said Oct 8, 2018 · due 2030 (12 years from October 2018)
The paper's own count: 12 years from October 2018. Verdict due in 2030.
The Story
The quote is the Guardian's headline plus its opening sentence. This is the '12 years' that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, John Kerry and others later repeated (see their entries). The headline presented the dozen years as the window to limit 'catastrophe'.
Receipts
As of Oct 9, 2026
until the window opens
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