LIKE most baby boomers, I look forward to the weekend visits of my grandchildren. As I opened the door to 10-year-old Marcus, his brother, 2-year-old Maverick, announced his presence by asking me: 'Are you there?' The young boy, currently in his 'terrible twos,' would repeat that query as if to remind me he now speaks in complete sentences.

It was a question that made me think of their generation as I have been following developments at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. This is the annual meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change. It has been a long and arduous battle; tackling the current climate crisis is not and will never be an easy task.