THERE is no such thing as a “climate crisis” – there, I’ve said it. Remember that phrase. It’s important.

Yes, hundreds of thousands are fleeing wildfires in France, and the Spanish government cannot cope with the conflagration there.

Even in Scotland, where experts say there are almost 200 words for rain, from dreich (grey and damp) to drookit (soaked), the Cairngorms are aflame and the first minister has called for the army to help fight the fires.

Yet there is no “climate crisis”.

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No, I am not a climate change denier. I get the message that our over-reliance on fossil fuels, our wanton destruction of the rain forests, and our refusal to deal with the catastrophic consequences, is pushing the earth we inhabit to a tipping point.

I know that as oceans rise, countries will be swallowed by the seas; heatwaves, which have crippled so much of Europe this summer, will become more frequent, longer in duration, and much more difficult to cope with; there will be more storms, more flooding, more droughts.

Yet I am certain there is no “climate crisis”.

Yes, it is the case that globally, incalculable numbers of people will die prematurely........

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