Shifting Goalposts

[Intro]
Shifting goalposts
By Earth’s hosts
Past one point five
Can we survive

[Verse 1]
Uninterested interests shift
Their morals set adrift
The target unachievable
Are they believable

[Chorus]
Shifting goalposts
By Earth’s hosts
Past one point five
(Can we survive)

[Bridge]
Will we thrive
(As we dive)
Into the depths of despair
(Are we already there?)

[Verse 2]
Overshoot and return
Won’t we ever learn
Removal technology
Is mythology

[Chorus]
Shifting goalposts
By Earth’s hosts
Past one point five
(Can we survive)

[Bridge]
Will we thrive
(As we dive)
Into the depths of despair
(Are we already there?)

[Chorus]
Shifting goalposts
By Earth’s hosts
Past one point five
(Can we survive)

[Outro]
Can I stay alive
(If we drive)

A SCIENCE NOTE
The 1.5°C target in the Paris Agreement is a moving target due to the way global temperatures are measured and interpreted.

If emissions stay high, we will permanently lock in warming beyond 1.5°C.
The real danger is that if we delay action, crossing 1.5°C even temporarily triggers irreversible climate feedbacks, making it impossible to return to safer levels.

Some political and economic interests may reframe the target as unachievable, shifting focus to “keeping below 2°C” instead.
Others may push for “overshoot and return” scenarios, where we exceed 1.5°C but later try to bring temperatures back down with carbon removal technologies.

The Paris 1.5°C target was never a strict “red line” but a long-term guideline.
Since 2024 has already passed that threshold in annual temperatures, the debate now shifts to whether this is temporary or permanent.
The more we delay cutting emissions, the more 1.5°C becomes truly impossible, moving us toward a 2°C+ world with severe consequences.

The Human Induced Climate Change Experiment