In defence of nature

Our natural environment is deteriorating. Blue-green algae are messing up the the beautiful Turku Archipelago. Oil spills have to be cleaned from rocky shores with great expense and effort. In the erosion-stricken lands of Kenya, mothers have to carry firewood from further and further afield. The quiet disasters which we gradually get used to are the most dangerous ones.

We must not let them happen. Empty rhetoric about sustainable development must be translated into practical action in defence of Planet Earth. This requires courage: courage to say that we can sometimes afford to go without, to pay more, to hurry a bit slower - in political decisions as well as our everyday choices.