Letters

Political response to the climate crisis

A sense of urgency is warranted

Sat Aug 12 2023 - 00:10

Sir, – Finn McRedmond is right to point out that we shouldn’t feel hopeless in our response to climate change (“Despair may be a natural response to the climate crisis, but it’s not an effective mode for inspiring action”, Opinion & Analysis, August 10th), but the contention that alarm isn’t useful in fighting the issue is less obvious.

Governments (including our own) have known about this problem for decades, and have signed up to both international and national agreements to cut emissions. The politicians who signed these agreements are thoughtful human beings who want what we all do – a climate that can support a stable civilisation into the future.

But those same politicians have still chosen to kick the changes down the road as part of self-professed “climate laggard” governments. Given the obvious contradiction between climate aspirations and climate action, you can make a strong case that the efforts of people like Greta Thunberg, and organisations like Extinction Rebellion, are making it progressively harder for the political system to waste time and to ignore climate science.

Technical innovation will always play a part, but the notion that these fixes will come along in time, and at sufficient scale, for us to avoid making significant changes to how we live (and in particular to how we travel and eat) is a seductive fiction. Yet transport and food production are areas where most politicians, when it comes to action, are extremely reluctant to back any changes.

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There are still grounds for optimism, but this optimism should always be checked against the only things that really matter – are our emissions moving in the right direction, and fast enough? Until these questions can be answered convincingly in the affirmative, it doesn’t seem particularly useful to question the rhetoric of the people calling for greater urgency. – Yours, etc,

DAVE MATHIESON,

Salthill,

Galway.

Sir, – This is a crisis and it requires immediate, massive action. We have tried Finn McRedmond’s approach for a generation, and it has perennially failed. Politicians struggle with the issue of carbon emissions because it is measured with a simple statistic, so the usual political tools, like endless filibustering, committees, reports, obfuscation and meandering hyperbole don’t work – the number is simply measured and in Ireland’s case, the number goes up.

However, if there are mainstream politicians out there who do care, who have a practical plan to tackle emissions generated from economic vested interests, then please, please come out of the shadows. Step forward. Articulate your plans and get my vote! – Yours, etc,

SEAN MOONEY,

Dublin 5.

Sir, – The discussion initiated by Fintan O’Toole on farmers, politicians, and the climate crisis (“Farmers’ denial of climate reality has been shaped by the parties they support”, Opinion & Analysis, August 8th) should take account of last month’s publication by the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) of the report Exploring a Just Transition in Agriculture and Land Use . A sense of where we are trying to go risks being lost sight of if we aim merely at technical changes in separate sectors. What is needed is an overarching vision that will inspire individual farmers and farming communities to embark on a journey of positive change. There is no question of a “transition out of agriculture”; the goal is a transition into making optimal use of our land and agricultural resources for environmental, economic, and social sustainability.

In June, shortly before the publication of the NESC report, Dr John Gilliland of Queen’s University Belfast completed a seven-farm project in Northern Ireland aiming at a “transition to deliver multiple public goods”. Dr Gilliland’s vision corresponds in several respects with the methodology of transition advocated by NESC and involves new areas of research, innovative ways of engaging with stakeholders, and the scaling up of advisory services.

New forms of public investment and social protection are needed, building on the extensive systems of public support that are already in place in the agricultural sector. As one of your letter writes (Liam Mulligan, August 10th) points out, the farming sector cannot be considered apart from the future of workers in businesses downstream of food production, including shops and restaurants, the development of transport infrastructure and social services, and the non-farm income of families from tourism and other sources. The future of farming depends on the future of local communities.

Ultimately, a transition to deliver multiple public goods is a political question, affecting the whole of society. We need to find spaces in which to deliberate on the wider context, including issues around food and diet, global food security, EU policies and legislation, and local democracy. This means bringing a communal dimension back into the centre of our thinking and action, and not only in relation to the optimal use of land, agricultural and marine resources. – Yours, etc,

PHILIP McDONAGH,

Adjunct Professor,

Faculty of Humanities

and Social Sciences,

Director,

Centre for Religion,

Human Values,

and International Relations,

Dublin City University,

Dublin 9.

Sir, – Finn McRedmond follows the well-trodden technology will save us route and pats our politicians on the back for their work on action on climate change. Yet Ireland reduced its emissions by 1.9 per cent in 2022 – hardly worthy of celebration. The activists are not wrong to ask for fundamental change. The worst thing we can do is to allow, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change puts it, the “brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all” to close without action. – Yours, etc,

BRIAN TIERNAN,

Dublin 8.