Cape Argus Opinion

Letter: The rich won’t be giving up their mansions and private jets for a sustainable Earth

Letter to the Editor|Published

Climate change protest. Picture: Markus Spiske/Unsplash

As the concerned environmentalists at Global Footprint Network and the World Wide Fund for Nature put it, endorsed by yesterday’s Argus editorial, if we all lived like a citizen of India we would only need a capacity of 0.8 Earths a year.

The concerned environmentalists don’t say specifically which citizens of India they have in mind but India’s median income in 2022 is $181 or R3100 a month.

That’s short of our South African minimum basic wage but the planet’s at stake and a small sacrifice is necessary.

So, it’s cardboard and corrugated iron shacks, communal taps, chemical toilets and empty bellies and you won’t even get a warm glow in winter to ward off the cold and damp when you think of Al Gore, John Kerry, Prince Harry, the Hollywood elite and the rest of the rich preachy class because you can bet your life they won’t be giving up their mansions and private jets any time soon.

* Ian Flint, Onrus River.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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