Ripe for the taking

Sir — It is not surprising that the original banana republic is touchy about the wastage of ripe bananas. According to the United Nations, around 45% of the world’s fruits and vegetables is wasted each year. Much of it is because consumers think they are too ripe for consumption. A supermarket chain in Colombia is trying to change this. Life Extending Stickers — they are colour-coded to offer customers cooking suggestions for each stage of ripeness — are challenging the misconception that ripeness equates to spoilage. Perhaps now the many people who bite into an apple only to realise they are chewing a sticker will have the consolation that they are saving the planet.

Shukla Goswami, Calcutta

Wasted chance

Sir — The fact that 2024 is the first calendar year in which the 1.5°Celsius warming limit set by the Paris Agreement was surpassed provides a stark backdrop to the 29th Conference of Parties (“All play, no work”, Nov 17). The 2015 treaty says countries must hold the average temperature well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and aim for 1.5°C. Breaching this target in 2024 does not mean it has been definitively missed — the measurement of global temperatures relies on averages recorded over 20 or more years. But the crossing of this threshold is a menacing moment. Yet, this fact seems to have eluded the negotiators at CoP 29, who are all busy securing the narrow geopolitical interests of their countries.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Sir — The priority for this round of climate talks at CoP 29 is the financing of the green transition and the urgent necessity for rich countries to support poorer ones to this end. Petrostates like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates should also become contributors. New taxes on fossil fuel companies, which have vastly inflated their profits since the Ukraine war, are among the measures being argued for. But this seems unlikely with Donald Trump at the helm in the United States of America. All of the above, and more, will be needed if the targets set in Paris are not to be pushed beyond the realms of possibility. The transition to clean energy needs to be faster.

Anshu Bharti, Begusarai, Bihar

Sir — At the ongoing CoP 29 in Baku, India has stated that climate finance — the money that’s necessary to incentivise and facilitate developing countries’ adoption of renewable energy sources over fossil fuels — should not be seen as “investment goals” by developed countries. It is absolutely right. But given the changes taking place around the world and the protectionist regimes coming to power, these words are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Shovanlal Chakraborty, Calcutta

Sir — An authoritarian petrostate with no respect for human rights is hosting CoP 29, which is being held after the re-election of a climate-denier US president. CoP meetings have proven to be greenwashing summits that allow countries like Azerbaijan, the UAE and Egypt to continue violating human and environmental rights. Azerbaijan’s entire economy is built on fossil fuels, with the State-owned oil company’s oil and gas exports accounting for more than 90% of the country’s exports. Despite what it might claim, Azerbaijan has no ambition to take climate action. It is planning to expand fossil fuel production, which is completely incompatible with the 1.5°C limit and the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Arka Goswami, Burdwan

Exotic locales

Sir — The residents of Goa, a recent news report suggests, are deeply unhappy about disrespectful tourists who intrude into residential and religious spaces for photo opportunities. No permission is taken for these activities and the images are usually posted on social media. The locals complain that this violates their right to privacy. Surely people in Pondicherry would agree. The two places have a unique link — we travel to Goa or Pondicherry to view exotica at our doorstep. The problem with the idea of the ‘exotic’ is that it makes the local populations seem one-dimensional. In the eyes of the observer, the exotic is so strange that it can be treated in a manner very different from those we would regard as kindred and thus entitled to privacy.

Yashodhara Sen, Calcutta

Different note

Sir — There is no dearth of personal accounts of celebrities outlining how they negotiate their illness journey. While celebrities can amplify messaging on public health concerns like cancer and goad people into adopting preventive behaviour, the personalisation of that journey can sometimes be merely self-serving. Although many of us may feel positively encouraged by actors like Hina Khan hitting the gym and resuming shooting despite chemotherapy cycles, most cancer survivors, particularly in advanced or critical stages, can barely make it through bad chemo days. What no one talks about is the celebrity’s access to a superior kind of healthcare, the advantage of privilege and the supportive infrastructure to go with it that ordinary people do not have. Health management can never be aspirational, it has to be grounded in the limits of one’s personal capacity.

Debapriya Paul, Calcutta