Letters | We should be fighting climate change instead of each other

Readers discuss how Bhutan offers a good lesson in energy sufficiency and national happiness, and suggest ways to help Hongkongers opt out of circular mail

Reading Time:3 minutes

Service members of pro-Russian troops load ammunition into a tank during fighting in Mariupol, Ukraine on April 12. The world’s militaries are responsible for about 6 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:30pm, 19 Apr 2022

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification.

To display a nation’s power by boosting its military strength involves an endless chase and a huge financial burden, neither of which is welcomed by humankind.

Still, some nations choose to demonstrate their power by launching a war or testing ballistic missiles, thus causing additional pain to people still suffering from the pandemic, and exacerbating the ills visited upon planet Earth.

The world’s militaries are responsible for about 6 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to Scientists for Global Responsibility.

Today, most of humanity seeks harmony and sustainable economic prosperity, not war. Instead of increasing military spending year after year, channelling such huge resources into supporting the development of robust healthcare systems, better social security and genuine green products would benefit all.

Nations are desperately looking for clean energy for electricity, transport and manufacturing. They are also looking for sustainable food production methods, eco-friendly alternatives to problematic plastics, and technologies that can effectively sequester atmospheric carbon.

Developments that meet these goals will help the global economy recover. Nations owning genuinely green technologies will earn local and foreign investments, making them fiscally robust. This in turn will help them become truly powerful without hurting human populations or the environment.