Sir, – Some aspects of John Leahy’s letter (July 18th) raise issues which merit comment. While Mr Leahy is correct to say that Ireland has “a relatively tiny landmass” and, by reference to that size, our CO2 footprint is a “mere 0.11 per cent of the world total”, that method of illustration is fundamentally unfair. If our total emissions are measured, as they should be, on a per capita basis it becomes apparent that our “contribution” to global emissions amounts to a not so minuscule 1.76 per cent of the total.
Even this figure does not take into account our further, albeit indirect, contribution to total emissions arising from our importation of manufactured goods from the big polluting countries, such as China, or indeed food and other products from far-flung parts of the world. From planet Earth’s perspective, it does not matter from what part of the world emissions actually emanate from; they all rise into the shared atmosphere and do their permanent damage everywhere.
Mr Leahy refers to the “pragmatic” advice of the UN Intergovernmental Convention on Climate Change to “immediately focus our resources on resilience and adaption against the ravages of global warming”. The advice was to reduce future risks through mitigation while managing and reducing current risks through adaption, with this dual approach being necessary to effectively address the challenges posed by climate change.
Every country, regardless of its size, has a moral obligation (even if not a legal one) to reduce its carbon footprint, every reduction in harmful emissions helps in mitigating the global effects of the climate crisis. Small countries, by taking significant action, can inspire larger nations and show that progress is possible. The same can be said of the people of small and indeed large countries. It is somewhat naive to await changes or rely exclusively on government policies or agreements rather than taking individual action. – Yours, etc,
PAUL O’SHEA,
Dublin 18.