UN should focus its climate hysteria on biggest emitters

Geoff Chambers is right on the money when he asserts that the UN should be lecturing the world’s biggest emitters and leaving Australia alone (“Take your lecture to big emitters”, 29/7).

How many times does the climate lobby have to be reminded that Australia contributes a mere 1 per cent of the world’s emissions and no matter what we try and achieve emissions-wise, nothing that Australia does will make a dent in the world’s overall emissions? The UN seems incapable and somewhat afraid of issuing emissions warnings to the world’s major emitters, so one must ask the question: Why is it so?

Australia is one of the very few countries that is decreasing its emissions, at great cost to its citizens. The ironical and hypocritical fact behind it is that those who are going to suffer the most are the ordinary Australians trying their hardest to pay the mortgage and other bills, raise a family and rely on at least two incomes.

Peter D. Surkitt, Sandringham, Vic

UN climate chief Simon Stiell has declared Australia will let the world “overheat” and fruit will be a “once a year treat” if Labor does not lift its clean-energy ambitions (29/7).

It’s exceedingly strange when among the world’s leading economies, Australia’s emissions barely register. True, we have sent much of our manufacturing offshore to high carbon emitters such as China, who seldom, if ever, are chastised by the UN.

That we are singled out for not doing enough to “change the climate”, not only by the UN, but also some of our Pacific Island neighbours, tells us we are a soft target.

Peter Clarke, Corinda, Qld

The UN’s climate executive secretary, Simon Stiell, sure knows how to press the panic button. Fruit and veg once a year because of mega droughts is extreme alarmism.

How about we accept that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have risen and fallen over eons, for reasons we don’t really understand, without the effects being at all catastrophic? All changes, cyclic or otherwise, are slow and all life forms on Earth simply adapt incrementally.

The more pressing issues we face are: overpopulation, overuse of resources, wasteful production, waste disposal, gross economic and standard-of-living inequality, and the ever-present threat of a nuclear war.

Until we are prepared to tackle the big issues, UN executives flying around the world preaching climate hysteria are just irritants, diverting attention away from what really matters and what the UN really should focus on.

Ian Morison, Forrest, ACT

As we consider the statements of the UN climate change bureaucrat, and with the Coalition in conflict over its energy policy, it is timely to consider the practical implications of “net zero” or changes to future emissions targets. How will they impact our energy systems, agriculture, national transport systems, waste management and even our future ability to travel?

No wonder our politicians have been keeping quiet if they know that these policies will result in major changes to our lifestyle. These policies could also result in major income and wealth redistribution outcomes.

The climate change debate has previously centred around environmental and moral (thank you, Kevin 07) arguments, but there are also strong economic and social factors that require careful consideration. In the absence of global agreements, unilateral actions by nations to reduce emissions adversely affects their economic comparative advantage (and hence their ability to export).

It is time for politicians to adopt a more pragmatic and flexible approach on energy policy.

Robert Mills, Belrose, NSW

Just about every nation on Earth is now fully aware that more fossil fuels are being burnt than ever before, especially by Third World countries in their attempt to lift their citizens out of poverty, and by China, which is busy building more and more coal-fired power stations every year.

Most can now clearly see that net zero is a pipedream that will never be reached. Green energy projects are falling by the wayside one after the other. Many nations are embracing a mixture of energy sources in which nuclear must play a vital role. When will our Energy Minister open his eyes and unblock his ears?

Sue Hofbauer, Randwick, NSW