Madam, - Public and media reaction to two recent events shows that we need to get our priorities right.
I refer to the death of Pope Paul John II and the publication of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report (MEA). The former is receiving, saturation coverage, while the later sparked only passing interest. Yet, in terms of the welfare of the planet and the future of humankind, the contrary should have been the case.
The importance of the MEA report was recognised by your own Editorial last Saturday, which warned that without collective action to tackle environmental degradation, "it will not be possible to sustain life". The Guardian described the MEA report as "the stuff of nightmares", while the New Scientist described its content as "explosive".
Approximately 60 per cent of the planet's "ecosystem services" - natural products and processes that support life - are being destroyed or used unsustainably. If these issues are not addressed immediately, children born at the beginning of this century face a bleak future.
Perhaps the politicians attending the Pope's funeral in Rome will return inspired by the solemn occasion to take a radical, holistic, long-term approach to the perennial question of how to best live within the regenerative capacities of Nature. As the MEA report says, the future lies in our hands. - Yours, etc.,
LAURENCE SPEIGHT, Green Party Candidate for Erne West, Derrygonnelly, Co Fermanagh.