Johnson’s football analogy doesn’t work

And here’s why

“I would say that humanity as a whole is about 5–1 down at half-time. We’ve got a long way to go, but we can do it. We have the ability to come back but it’s going to take a huge amount of effort. Team World is up against a very formidable opponent in climate change.” (Boris Johnson)

It’s not just the 5–1 scoreline. Teams around the world fail to come back from 4 goal deficits the majority of the time. In fact I’d wager it’s very rare for a team to win from such a poor position. If it is meant to inspire hope, it falls desperately short. Many fans are resigned to “damage control” by this point in a 5–1 thrashing, so is that the message you want to send to the world?

Its not the fact that the invocation of “Team World” allows him to place the blame on the other countries, instead of providing leadership. We could have come back from 5–1, he can say, but you didn’t try hard enough. You weren’t Team Players, even though I clearly told you to be.

It’s not even the fact that our prime minister talking about the footie comes across about as sincere as his staged Euro 2020 photos. It’s a cynical soundbite that will get him on the frontpages.

No, by far the worst crime is the suggestion that climate change is the opponent.

It isn’t.

Boris Johnson is the opponent.

Him and his ilk. The world leaders who urge everyone to reduce their emissions, and then…