Gas and gaiters?

You report (21 April) on a group of leading churchmen calling for more robust and realistic UK and Scottish governmental restrictions on greenhouse gases output to help prevent adverse climate changes so as to offset any climate problems affecting the world’s poorest people.

Their pleas discount the import of simple proportions, since the UK’S CO2 output of less than 2 per cent of the global total (and Scotland’s of less than 1 per cent) are trivial, even if predictions about the causal role of rising CO2 levels are realistically correct.

Do they want us to set a “good” example to other nations, despite the great disparities in national agreement with the policies of non-compliance by biggest emitters China, the US and India?

If so, we would needlessly tend to impoverish ourselves in aid of only token Greenery to no-one’s benefit.

It is high time that such misunderstandings were recognised: these churchmen and our politicians framing tougher regulations are perhaps trying to fool us – and themselves – for no real benefit by discounting the relevant proportions of national emissions. (DR) CHARLES WARDROP Viewlands Road West, Perth