New research from France has shown that men contribute 25% more to climate change than women, due to their love of red meat and fast cars.

Columnist with the Irish Independent Ian O’Doherty told The Hard Shoulder that if he was given a choice between the planet and his barbecue, he’d pick his barbecue every time.

“You can blame men for everything, we're kind of used to it,” he said.

“It's this ‘straight white man can't catch a break syndrome’, you know?

“But this idea that because we like doing barbecues, we're responsible - it's like, just give me a break.”

A barbecue. Image via pixabay

Mr O’Doherty said the days of “climate catastrophism” are over, as he believes people are fed up with constantly being told the planet is dying.

“Since the ‘70s we've all been told that we're all going to be dead in the next five years and the planet's going to be ruined or whatever,” he said.

“My take is, I'm more concerned about the environment and I'm more concerned about litter, I'm more concerned about plastics.

“But when it comes to the climate change catastrophism, I'm out.”

'It's the rich people'

Environmentalist and PRO of the Tree Council of Ireland Doctor Éanna Ní Lamhna said that she doesn’t buy into the results of this study either.

“It's only slitting hairs to say men are eating steak, as if women didn't go on airplanes or buy clothes or anything else - that's invidious,” she said.

“I mean, that's a ridiculous thing to say that men are doing this and women are doing that.

“It's the rich people on our hemisphere, the rich people in Europe, the rich people in Ireland, the rich people in America who are doing it, not men versus women.”

However, Dr Ní Lamhna said that we certainly have been seeing the impacts of climate change since the 1970s, and it is not an exaggeration to say policies should be implemented to prevent further damage.

Main image: Pictured covered in oil is Lady Justice (Gemma Roche), holding a weighing-scales symbolising the global injustice around the impacts of climate change. PHOTO: Mark Stedman. 10/11/2024