I totally agree with George Monbiot’s article, in which he says we went along with the lie that all the small changes asked for by green groups would combat this life-threatening problem of climate change (This heatwave has eviscerated the idea that small changes can tackle extreme weather, 18 July). Yet here we are with extreme heat, wildfires and António Guterres, the UN secretary general, saying that we face a “collective suicide”.
Monbiot is right in that green groups do not want to frighten people, so they ask for small acts. I was part of a major green campaign group’s plastics count recently, but where are the really big asks of its members? Plastics are not our biggest problem right now.
I never thought we would just talk for 40 years and do nothing, and watch my grown children fear that we are facing Armageddon. We wait until the fascists are in our backyard before we get ready. We watch the stockpiling of nuclear weapons until there is the strong possibility of nuclear war. We wait until the Earth is literally on fire from not tackling climate change.
Listen up, all you gutless politicians. We need to make climate change our No 1 issue.
Lyn Howard
Bristol
• George Monbiot’s article raises all the usual valid points on climate change, but misses the most crucial one: unless there is full and meaningful international cooperation, nothing that a single country does will make the slightest positive difference to the climate.
While countries like India, Brazil, China and the US (to name but a few) make hay with fossil fuels, deforesting on an industrial scale and pumping goodness knows what into the atmosphere, nothing will come of any changes. We as a country could roll back the industrial clock and go full Year Zero; it wouldn’t alter anything.
Any example we hope to set will be ignored as soon as it threatens to cost money. Governments will sign almost any treaty, and just as readily renege on any treaty when it is expedient to do so. Look at the lack of willingness to refrain from using Russian gas when it starts to affect economies and jeopardise share prices.
I’m not sure what the answer is, but leaving such important issues to toothless treaties isn’t it. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.
Andrew Harrison
New Mill, West Yorkshire
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