Letters

Climate crisis – exporting our emissions

An unsustainable economic model

Mon Jul 25 2022 - 00:05

Sir, – While there is no doubt that the cost of living crisis is a significant issue, it seems some of our political representatives, with their eye on upcoming elections, are using this real crisis as a convenient excuse to push back on potentially difficult decisions with regard to climate action.

We keep hearing deflecting arguments about emissions in other countries such as China; however, we neglect to admit that recent advances in Western economies, such as Ireland’s, were built on the back of cheap Chinese labour. We have in effect been exporting our emissions.

Unfortunately we are in a perfect storm of sorts. Globally, our decades of prevarication regarding action on the climate and biodiversity crisis have meant that now more significant sacrifices are required. The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has made this increasingly difficult.

While we struggle with this dilemma of climate action versus the cost of living, we need to reflect on how corporate profits, and in particular those of fossil fuel companies, have never been higher.

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We cannot lose focus on the existential threat of climate change but we can certainly look at those that benefit from both crises and ask ourselves why our politicians persist, at the behest of these vested interests, in pursuing an unsustainable economic model based on needless consumption, rather than one based on the needs of society? – Yours, etc,

BARRY WALSH,

Blackrock,

Cork.