"Much of the 'natural' capital upon which so much of human well-being and economic activity depends – water, land, the air and atmosphere, biodiversity and marine resources – continue their seemingly inexorable decline

"Without an accelerated effort to reform the way we collectively do business on planet Earth, we will shortly be in trouble if indeed we are not already. There have been enough wake-up calls. I sincerely hope this is the final one."

That's not the call of some environmentalist who people can dismiss as being biassed, it's the call from the United Nations.

It's even made the front page of The Times (click here) and - less surprisingly - The Independent (click here). It is more important than the fate of Madeleine McCann, although sadly The Sun and The Mirror don't see it that way.

But I'm as tired as you are about banging on about it. It's not about being "holier than thou" or "miserable for the sake of it", which are some of the ridiculous responses we've had on a message board I frequent as many of us discuss ways of being greener (and a big thumbs up to everyone who's trying and passing on tips for others). Hmm, maybe I've found a new criteria for culling mankind to a sustainable level -"show us your carbon footprint". That would wake people up, wouldn't it?