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The protests led by Extinction Rebellion remind us that there are more pressing problems than Britain’s withdrawal from the EU (Of course these protests are inconvenient. They are designed to disrupt us, Editorial, 11 October).
Exploitative capitalism has sacrificed our wellbeing – and much of the planet’s resources – on the altar of unlimited growth, binding the hands of those yet to be born.
For those in power, the questions are straightforward. Are they prepared to jeopardise their careers – or their profits – for our children’s children? Are they ready to put short-term politicking aside and help deliver a sustainable plan for the future? Are they willing to take difficult decisions on behalf of voters they’ll never meet?
These questions have guided my future generations bill. It is a direct response to the challenge posed by those striking for the climate: at a national level, it will ensure that future generations are accounted for at every level of policymaking.
As a father and grandfather, I know what kind of ancestor I want to be. The question is, how many other parliamentarians feel the same?
John Bird
House of Lords
• Tropical forests are the major buffer against climate change, so burning them has a double impact on global heating. The only way to reduce climate warming will be to reverse the loss of natural habitat and reduce burning of fossil fuels. Technological solutions are being developed to scrub the atmosphere of greenhouse gases and replace fossil fuels; they are unlikely to achieve what is needed in the short time available. Their implementation will prove futile if tropical forests and savannas continue to be destroyed.
Protection of tropical habitats and their biodiversity requires international funds leveraged as taxation from the subsidised profits of energy organisations responsible for producing the fossil fuels that create this pollution.
Viable legal mechanisms need to ensure that the funds are exclusively spent in protecting and restoring forests, their biodiversity, and the native people living there. This process will only attain the support of the energy producers and the children marching in the streets if the funds maximise the conservation of forests in ways that minimise government abuse and other forms of corruption.
The recent speeches at the UN were drowned out by the more eloquent and vociferous voices of tomorrow protesting on the streets outside. The initiative outlined here would provide an important first step in reversing the cascade of environmental sins that yesterday’s fathers have heaped upon their children’s futures.
Professor Andrew P Dobson Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
Professor Marcia C Castro Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Department of Global Health and Population
Dr Andres Baeza Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS) and School of Sustainability, Arizona State University
Dr Cláudia Torres Codeço Programa de Computação Científica, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro
Dr Zulma M Cucunubá Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London
Dr Ana Paula Dal’Asta Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, São José dos Campos, São Paulo
Professor Giulio De Leo Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University
Dr Gabriel Carrasco-Escobar Laboratorio ICEMR-Amazonia, Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofia, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima
Dr Raquel Martins Lana Programa de Computação Científica, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro
Dr Rachel Lowe Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health & Centre for Mathematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Barcelona Institute for Global Health
Dr Antonio Miguel Vieira Monteiro Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, São José dos Campos, São Paulo
Professor Mercedes Pascual Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago
Dr Mauricio Santos-Vega Universidad De Los Andes, Bogota
• Saudi Aramco is actively addressing the climate challenge (Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions, 10 October). Today the world faces the dual challenge of meeting its growing energy needs in a reliable and affordable manner while ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.
In the last century, availability of affordable energy mostly in the form of fossil fuels powered productivity growth and development around the world, contributing to an unprecedented improvement in quality of life, and a doubling of life expectancies. In the last 25 years, affordable energy helped lift a billion people out of poverty. We tend to take these achievements for granted.
With every light there is a shadow – and for the world energy system that is the unsustainable emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. The challenge for energy producers and consumers alike is to take meaningful actions to minimise these emissions and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality.
Saudi Aramco has a long track record in reducing emissions from its operations. Thanks to decades-long investment in sustainable operations, we have achieved the lowest carbon intensity of any major oil producer. We are an industry leader in developing and deploying emissions-reducing technologies, partnering with public and private institutions around the world.
In order to achieve a low-carbon future, we believe it is necessary to meet both global energy demand and lower emissions. That must include responsible investments which reduce the overall carbon footprint of the oil and gas industry and end-use markets.
Ahmad O Al-Khowaiter
Chief technology officer, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
• Angela Singer (Letters, 11 October) clearly does not understand the aims of Extinction Rebellion, which are not to exhort the public to deliver climate action through making their own lives as carbon-neutral as possible (though this would of course be a good thing) – but to “speak truth to government” so that those in power acknowledge what is actually happening to the planet, and act to reward and encourage sustainable businesses and transport systems, promote renewable energy solutions, and stop driving an economy based on fossil fuels.
Marilyn Rayner
Great Ness, Shropshire
• If anyone doesn’t know how to switch to renewable energy sources, they can always go to bigcleanswitch.org (switch to a green tariff in minutes from the UK’s most trusted suppliers), and stay warm with renewables. Even gas can now been green.
Wiebina Heesterman
Birmingham
• Extinction Rebellion are justified in their protests demanding radical change to save the planet. However, what the movement must not do is become anti-politics. We too often hear the cry that they are all the same, that the politicians are not listening. This is wrong.
Maybe Boris Johnson panders to that stereotype, dismissing the protesters as “crusties”, while his government does little to address the challenges. But what of others? The Labour party has a bold green deal in line with most of XR’s demands. The Greens and the SNP also have progressive ideas.
Many councils across the land have declared climate emergencies and are radically changing the way things are done. While progress may not be as rapid as some may hope, the impetus is there.
XR and others need to keep up the pressure, but please don’t lump all politicians together as useless. They need to effect the changes to save the planet – after all, who else will?
Paul Donovan
Labour councillor for the London borough of Redbridge
• Polly Toynbee (Journal, 8 October) quotes Douglas Murray: “Their refusal to acknowledge any view but their own deranged belief and their defiance of democratic norms is authoritarian, even fascistic”. Thank you, Mr Murray, for that superbly concise description of our present government. What do you mean, you were talking about Extinction Rebellion?
Sarah Williamson
Sheffield
• Last week I found myself in the curious position at the Extinction Rebellion rally of sharing a platform with Stanley Johnson (PM’s father tells climate crisis rally he is proud to be a ‘crusty’, 10 October). Unlike his son, with whom I had the dubious pleasure of sharing a few platforms during the 2012 London mayoral campaign, I can report that Johnson Senior gave a resounding cheer when I announced I was going to be the first female mayor of London.
Siobhan Benita
Liberal Democrat candidate for mayor of London
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