[ad_1]
MICHAEL Fry’s article on November 2 ticks off many of the populist memes which have sadly become too familiar (Is COP an example of giving our rulers more power than they ought to have?, Nov 2. Challenging legitimate, democratic leadership, suggesting that the climate crisis is the work of foreign “experts in misfortune” and appealing to the common sense of “ordinary people” while railing against the profligacy of “feminist political economy”. The National publishes these dog whistle, discredited thoughts in irresponsible ways.
It is unnecessary to repeat warnings made by the United Nations in its Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis. It is clear that human influence has caused the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans to heat up in a rapid, unprecedented and widespread way since the Industrial Revolution. We have witnessed heatwaves as well as droughts and violent storms.
Even if the governments meet the Paris 2015 targets, global warming is expected to continue to rise without any drastic action to reduce CO2 or other greenhouse gases. gasEmissions In his moving opening speech Monday, David Attenborough stated that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is a key indicator for the instability behind carbon change.
READ MORE Greta Thunberg attacks media for ‘erasing’ Vanessa Nakate from Nicola Sturgeon meeting
We must remember that the Global North has the problems of industrialisation while the Global South is experiencing the consequences, as highlighted by Mia Amor Mottley from Barbados. Inequality is a key factor we face in the COP26 negotiations and can be mitigated by the “well-being economy” at which Fry sneers.
Fry should be able to keep his stubborn denial of all scientific consensus to himself.
Cathie Lloyd
Edinburgh
DECISIONS, decisions … what to call Michael Fry’s latest column? I’m torn between “waffle”, “piffle” and “pointless ramble”. Climate change is NOT an “opinion” or “a point of view” – it’s an inescapable FACT that MUST be faced, and soon. Michael, like me (nearly 70), may not be able to see the worst effects, but my grandsons almost certainly will.
WATCH: UN chief praises Scotland’s efforts to tackle climate change
If the ToriesIf they could just forget the song Money Makes the World Go Round, perhaps they would be able to see the beauty of the world they and their fellow-travellers created. If they are not reined, their belief in never-ending commercial growth will eventually lead to the death of most sentient lifeforms.
Barry Stewart
Blantyre
For too long, world leaders have been focused only on economic wealth and ignored the growing ecological crisis. Professor Ehrlich, a world climate scientist, warned in 1982 that the fate of the Earth’s future for thousands or millions of years would be determined by what people do from that point forwards. As 2022 draws near, the time is running out for us to avoid an irreversible chain reaction in our climate. With global fires, flood and famine increasing, along with Arctic ice caps melting, this is a stark reality which has been greatly accelerated by man’s pollution and relentless exploitation of our planet’s natural resources.
READ MORE Nicola Sturgeon joins leaders in call for gender equality in climate policy
The scientific evidence is clear that disaster will occur if temperatures rise 3C. This is why the COP26 summit must create a global plan of action to address this urgent climate emergency. If it doesn’t, then planet Earth will not survive and mankind will not.
Grant Frazer
Newtonmore
OUR models of smaller independent states are often limited to European examples with the addition New Zealand. We seldom consider the exceptional example of Costa Rica. It is a Costa Rican diplomat Christiana Figueres who has played a remarkable role over the past two decades, especially in her work on Paris Accord. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was also a key part of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was achieved by Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has a population similar to Scotland, and approximately two-thirds our land area. It ranks at the top of the human development league for its continent and has a longer life expectancy than Scotland.
It abolished its armed forces in 1949 in favour of “an army of teachers”. Since that time, it has not been involved or invaded in wars and has been generous in accepting refugees from conflict areas.
More than 60 years have passed without any democratic elections. It has been elected three-times to the UN Security Council.
Its environmental achievements are outstanding with 25% of its land under special biodiversity protection and zero deforestation, since 2005. More than 90% is generated from renewable energy. renewables. Its economy has grown beyond its dependence on coffee and bananas. Software development, software manufacturing and ecotourism have all increased. So let’s raise our sights and our ambitions.
Isobel Lindsay
Biggar
[ad_2]
Source link
