Should we embrace net zero so radically?

More than 28,000 acres of UK productive farmland is already out of food production to grow crops for biofuel and energy. Today farmers are being urged to set aside more valuable land to plant trees; most will do little to reduce atmospheric CO2 for decades.

As we sit in our snug sitting rooms watching as the people of Ukraine are targeted by cluster bombs, air to ground missiles and bullets and many have not eaten for days, are we so sheltered from the outside world that we can ignore the inevitable global food shortages caused by Russia’s atrocities?

Global warming is deeply concerning as we see weather patterns already changing. However, should our tiny island embrace net zero so radically to the detriment of today’s population? The UK’s actions will have little impact on this global trend.

It is laudable to want to set an example, but should we be creating an artificial veneer beneath which food, fuel and power poverty will result?

We may like to appear whiter than white but we will inevitably become increasingly reliant on imports of fuel and food from countries less environmentally responsible. Its transport alone will create far more CO2 than if we manage our own resources.

The Scottish government unveiled its Hunting with Dogs Bill on the day the nature protection agency, NatureScot, published a scientific review calling for more fox control.

The study into the perilous state of the capercaillie population in Scotland, concluded that more lethal control of foxes and crows, and the removal and relocation of pine martens, is necessary if there is any chance of saving capercaillies from extinction.

As Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said: “This could hardly be described as joined-up government.”

The legislation prevents hunting with hounds and innocent trail-hunting. NFU Scotland stresses the need to maintain effective, practical, and pragmatic control of wild mammals, including foxes, preventing damage to livestock, spread of disease, and protecting wildlife species.

Good luck to the capercaillies, as without traditional fox hunting with hounds, their extinction is sadly inevitable.

Ms Sturgeon has also been busy introducing the Gender Recognition Reform Scotland Bill, This law makes it easier for people to change their legal sex by self-identification after just three months living in the ‘acquired gender’, after which trans-men can access women’s refuges, toilets, changing rooms, prisons and hospital wards.

Ms Sturgeon has clearly shot herself in the foot. Scottish women, of which there are many, are turning their backs on her and her party.

As Ukrainians fight to the death defending their country from Putin’s invading army, one wonders if these brave soldiers and volunteers are refusing to fight unless provided with vegan food, boots, and clothing.

Will our forces refuse to pick up a gun, fly a fighter jet or board a naval vessel unless their rations are vegan and kept isolated from proper food?

Being from a generation who were told to eat what was on our plate and be grateful, I find this trend absurd. Perhaps when basic food supplies become scarce, imports of soya, palm oil and avocadoes are compromised and we must rely on home-grown produce, reality will knock some sense into such people and legislators.

To read Carola’s columns in full, go to carolagodmanirvine.com