Duty to help climate fight

4:02pm Wednesday 16th April 2008

Dear Editor - On April 11th, 2007, Richard Shepherd wrote to the Westen Telegraph claiming climate change was not manmade, but caused by the sun.

However, in his recent letter (March 19th), he accepted that carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels affect the climate.

He argued that the UK should do nothing about the problem as its current contribution to global emissions is relatively small.

This ignores the fact that, per head of population, the UK has emitted, since the beginning of the industrial revolution, more carbon dioxide than any other country. Even today, the UK emits almost three times as much carbon dioxide per person than China.

The UK, as a major contributor to the problem, has a duty to try to solve it.

Gordon James Pembrokeshire Friends of the Earth, Director, Friends of the Earth Cymru, 33 Castle Arcade Balcony, Cardiff.