Sir, – As Cop26, probably the most consequential gathering of world leaders in living memory, begins the immediacy of the climate and biodiversity crisis is increasingly pitting people against each other with the active encouragement of corporates.
This hasn’t been helped by the ongoing propagation of lies being facilitated by social media. Here the publication of the carbon budget has already seen the expected backlash from those local vested interests for whom caps on emissions run counter to their profit motive.
Einstein said “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind”, which might seem harsh when taken in the context of early 20th-century global politics and the drive to shake off the yoke of imperialism, but seems quite apt now.
Global solidarity and an acceptance of scientific fact will be critically important in the coming weeks if humanity is to have any chance of maintaining a sustainable future on this planet. We cannot continue to push for a business as usual growth model, with deluded hopes in yet-to-be invented technologies.
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We are now in the middle of the climate and biodiversity emergency, politicians need to stop only looking at their next election and pandering to parochial and national self-interest.
We all have a collective responsibility to contribute to the global cause of humanity; no more excuses. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock, Cork.