The Davos agenda isn’t even worth the paper it is written on

Foreign secretary Lord David Cameron was right to say, ahead of meetings at Davos this week, that the global impact of conflicts, diseases and the climate crisis is growing.

The World Economic Forum Risk Report identifies the climate crisis as the most significant global risk over the coming decade.

But this all seems like a lot of hot air as far as the climate is concerned. The agenda for leaders gathering in Davos isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

Last year was the hottest year on record and reports have shown that the relative economic impact of climate disasters varies considerably, creating a “postcode lottery” stacked against the poor.

The pitiful amount countries pledged last month at Cop28 for the Loss and Damage Fund – less than 0.3 per cent of what is needed – will not even address the loss and damage that vulnerable communities have experienced in these opening weeks of 2024.

While people on the front line of the climate crisis in the global south may be a world away from the ski resort of Davos, leaders meeting there – the UK government included – have it in their gift to change the odds and improve the lives and life chances of millions.

Rich nations must urgently scale up loss and damage funding, and taxing the profits of fossil fuel companies would be a no-brainer to achieve this.

Mariana Paoli

London

Many people consider the current crop of government MPs to be third-rate at best, on the front bench as well as the backbenches.

Why though would two prominent Tory MPs amplify this truism, apparently with zero shame or self-awareness? Lee Anderson clearly said he was going to vote against the Rwanda bill, but because fellow MPs were giggling at him, he changed his mind and abstained.

Then later, Therese Coffey, while talking in the House, berated the shadow home secretary for referencing Kigali, under the impression it was the wrong country when discussing the Rwanda bill. For goodness’ sake, Kigali is the capital of Rwanda, which has the office of the president and most government ministries. A fact I knew when I was at school, by the way. 

This is now getting embarrassing.

Robert Boston

Kent

What an absolute mess Rishi Sunak and his party have made of the asylum seekers problem.

Having had many iterations and false starts in the past 14 years our government has been as yet, unable to prevent refugees from crossing the Channel in order to reach our country. The government has not only lost control of the situation, but has also lost tens of thousands of asylum seekers.

With the state of the nation, it is unnerving to witness the amount of time, effort and money invested in an Illegal Migration Act which the PM claims is “the will of the people”.

Well, not me. I would prefer if he would show as much effort in returning Britain to a healthy, functional, caring and resourceful place in which to live. Our economy is flat, our infrastructure is burnt out, as is our NHS, and our once thriving business sector is going abroad to prosper.

Worst of all, Conservative MPs cannot see just how futile their efforts are. Mr Sunak and his acolytes have ruined a once-thriving country and it will take decades to repair. Meanwhile, it is Mr Sunak’s “people” that suffer.

Keith Poole

Basingstoke

How can the Rwanda policy be any sort of a deterrent, as the Tories claim?

I doubt most of the people making the dangerous journey across the Channel will have even heard of the UK’s new policy.

Those who have will undoubtedly be hoping that their chances of being sent to Rwanda are infinitely smaller than their chance of being granted asylum. In the unlikely case, Sunak’s planes do take off with migrants bound for Rwanda, then according to our government they will be able to live in peace and prosper in a “safe country”. Either way, how will this deter people from crossing in the first place?

Geoff Forward

Stirling

I’m sure I’m not expressing an isolated view in stating that alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules are largely hogwash.

When it comes to spending, every business knows the eventual consequence that will come from not balancing the books, and that is bankruptcy!

The Premier League would do a better service to the beautiful game by dealing with the ugly face of gambling. Money from betting companies has been fuelling the sport for years now, mixing the lens and making gambling the new norm!

Gambling addiction has led many fans to ruined and broken lives. The support it receives in the industry has taken all my trust in the sport away.

Collin Rossini

Essex