LETTER TO THE EDITOR: A record Hot Air Index high

COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh is over. The circus of politicians, business types and journalists has gone, meaning that local residents, who’ve been hiding in Pyramid vaults, could return home.

The circus then moved on to the G20 meeting group of richest countries, in Bali. COP27 was trying to save the planet; the purpose of G20 is to make the rich richer so that they can wreck the planet more quickly.

The official Hot Air Index gave COP26, in Glasgow last year, the highest score ever: hot air expended = 26.3 billion super-litres; effective action taken = nil.

Figures for COP27 have not yet been published. Experts are busy disagreeing about whether Sharm El-Sheikh will set a new record. The Who Needs Glaciers Anyway think tank says it won’t but the At Least Egypt Is Warmer Than Scotland In November think tank predicts that it will.

Greta Thunberg had decided the worth of COP27 before it started: she didn’t bother to attend. Advertiser letter writers seem to agree with her. A possible summary of their verdict is that it was a colossal waste of time, money and natural resources.

I understand that one major reason for this failure was the late withdrawal of the key presentation, “The Role Of Public Transport In Reducing Greenhouse Gases”. It was to be chaired by the South Yorkshire Mayor but, unfortunately, the X13 First bus from Sheffield to Sharm El-Sheikh was cancelled due to a shortage of drivers.

Rob Slow, Rotherham