When the Bush administration lets it be known that it "does not see climate change as the most important issue facing mankind" it may be right (in a way), since climate change is just one of a complex of problems associated with our planet's inability to support 7-9 billion people with the kind of economy and lifestyle aspirations (e.g. individual motorisation and frequent air travel) current in Western Europe and North America.

The most immediate problem, however, is the state of collective denial we are virtually all in regarding the fundamental non-sustainability of our growth-dependent economy and grossly materialistic way of life.

It is such a difficult problem to face up to because WE ourselves ARE the problem, which includes Prince Charles, whose sincerity in wanting to be a part of the solution I do not doubt. He has spoken eloquently about the "need for limits" but without facing up to the implication that they also have to apply to him and his family. One has to multiply the drain and strain that his lifestyle places on our planet's limited resources and finite carrying capacity by several billion, and ask whether or not it is sustainable? The answer to which, I think, is obvious. It is difficult, I know, but we, and he, urgently need to face up to this.

"I don't want my grandchildren . . . to say why didn't you do something about it when you could have done," you quote Prince Charles as saying. But it is not enough "doing something". He is in a very privileged position to do a great deal. We have to do "what's necessary" to achieve sustainability, keeping in mind that there will soon be 7-9 billion of us. Otherwise, a ruthless mother nature will do it for us. She has already started, but the little bit of climate change we are experiencing, and arguing about, is just the beginning . . . .

We should have faced up to the problem back in the early 1970's, when books such as The Limits to Growth from the Club of Rome were published, instead of going into collective denial. We have left it very late, but not yet too late. It is going to be a rough ride - to sustainability, but the longer we leave it the rougher it will be and the more people will perish on the way. If we leave it too long, none may survive at all.

It doesn't bear thinking about, does it? (quite literally). Surely things cannot be nearly as bad as I'm suggesting? Much easier to dismiss me as a crackpot.

What can I do to convince you (and your readers, my countrymen and women) that I am not?

I wish I knew.