Sir, — Paul Gillespie, in his consideration of climate tipping points (“Climate is at a tipping point and if we fail to act, we’ll witness the revenge of Lovelock’s Gaia”, Opinion, July 30th), hits on the critical lever that can tilt the balance back in our favour, namely gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
All of the plans being brought forward by governments lack a sincere acknowledgment that pursuit of growth in GDP is the primary driver of the climate and biodiversity crisis. Proposed solutions that push so-called “green growth” are somewhat delusional in that they do nothing to significantly curb the continued extraction required to fuel this growth.
To develop a long-term, sustainable and equitable economic system, which provides for all citizens, the dogma of profit-driven growth must be confronted.
An honest and self-reflective conversation is required on this topic by all facets of society. We are running out of road to kick cans on. — Yours, etc,
Ann Ingle: Deliberately going out of my way to move for no particular reason has never appealed to me
Gerry Thornley: How about an alternative look at Ireland’s Six Nations win over England?
Is Ireland anti-Semitic, an outlier of tolerance or in the middle ground?
How risky is it to buy a second-hand EV?
BARRY WALSH,
Blackrock, Cork
