Environmental crisis - We cannot ignore the warnings

AS we batten down the hatches for Tuesday’s emergency budget it is disconcerting to learn that our financial problems are in the ha’penny place compared with our environmental excesses.

An EU-commissioned study has put a price tag on the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion (€1.5tn) and $5tn (€3.7tn). The figure comes from adding the value of the services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide. Various calculations put the cost of the banking collapse at between $1tn (€0.74tn) and $1.5tn (€1.1tn).

The situation is so urgent that even in these extraordinary times we cannot plead catastrophe overload and turn away from this set of truly huge challenges.