Vital agenda for UN conference

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 20:00

I WAS alarmed to read that fewer than half of British voters believe climate change is real and is caused by human activity ("Most Britons sceptical about climate change", 15 November).

This makes next month's United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen all the more important.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other world leaders attending must seize the opportunity to create practical solutions to this crisis – and forget the current obsession with creating artificial and often inappropriate targets for reducing emissions.

Yes, the world's biggest carbon emitters must be made to change their behaviour, but they should be supported by people and politicians around the world.

We as individuals must also examine how we currently consume our resources, and identify how emission levels can be reduced through using these resources more efficiently.

Only once carbon cutting is established as regular part of day-to-day life should targets for reducing emissions be set.

Andrew Stevens, London