In regard to Andrew Anderson’s contention that there is “no planetary crisis” (“Earth can live without us, just as it did for millennia”, Letters, October 22), it is not so much that the earth could survive perfectly well in the future without us, as much as the catastrophic impact we are having, and will have had, on its biodiversity by then.

We share the earth with other life forms that will not survive because of our brief span here. I believe a sixth mass extinction driven by human activity could be considered a planetary crisis.

Paul Littlewood
St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK

Alan Beattie’s opinion piece “The magic pony of private finance fails to fund the global green transition” (Trade Secrets, FT.com, October 17) rightly dismisses the notion that small amounts of public money can mobilise vast sums of commercial capital for the green transition in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs).

But the problems go beyond the shortcomings of multilateral development banks and development finance institutions, and into the risk culture and regulatory incentives faced by private investors.

Pension funds in the UK allocated a mere £14.2bn, just 0.5 per cent of their assets, to EMDEs in 2022. This cautious approach is often driven by advisers whose interpretation of fiduciary duty focuses solely on financial returns rather than on environmental, social and governance factors — but even on these terms they may be missing out.

Our research shows that emerging market equities performed just as well as US markets between 2002 and 2021, and outperformed non-US developed markets. Emerging market bonds have also outperformed developed market bonds in most years since 2008.

Insurance companies, meanwhile, face a regulatory environment that discourages investments in higher-risk or less liquid assets, including EMDE infrastructure, even though these might be more profitable in the

long run. Regulations like the EU’s Solvency II impose capital charges disproportionate to the actual risks, leading to an unfair treatment of non-OECD infrastructure investment. Sustainable finance regulations, such as the EU’s green asset ratio, exclude sustainable investments outside the EU, further complicating the landscape.

With so much global growth shifting to EMDEs, private investors in developed markets are missing out on potentially lucrative returns, as well as the opportunity to invest in sustainable growth. Tackling regulatory and behavioural barriers in these private institutions could unlock the capital needed for a global green transition.

Samantha Attridge
Principal Research Fellow, ODI
London SE1, UK

A LUCKY lottery winner nearly missed that he had scooped a £500,000 jackpot after he “assumed” there was a lag on the system.

A computer maintenance engineer is finally celebrating his £500,000 lottery win a year after having surgery for cancer.

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The win comes after a painful 24 hours of waiting as John Lingard, from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, said he initially saw no increase on his bank account’s available funds.

“I assumed there must be a lag or something on the system, so went to work and didn’t give it another thought,” he said.

“Even when I logged on later that day to buy my EuroMillions ticket, I didn’t look more deeply into the message that popped up congratulating me on a win.

“It was only 24 hours later that I finally read my messages and the penny started to drop, although not fully, because at first glance I thought it was £500.10.

“I was just on my way out the door, heading to the supermarket, but when I worked out that it was actually £500,000 plus £10 on another line, I decided driving wasn’t a good idea so walked to the local shop,” he added.

John bought a Lucky Dip ticket for the September 25 draw via the National Lottery app, and his winning numbers were 13, 15, 18, 30 and 33 with Thunderball number 7.

He said he “felt like I was on cloud nine” when he realised he had won £500,000 in the Thunderball draw.

The engineer’s lotto success follows a nasty cancer diagnosis which saw him have one of his kidneys removed to stop the spread of the disease.

He has since been given the all clear.

The 66-year-old plans on spending some of his winnings with friends in Tenerife – a place he visited a year ago to find some peace and calm after he was first diagnosed.

“It’s crazy to think that at the start of the year I would come to the beach to find inner peace in all the turmoil of the treatment and my worries about the future,” he said.

He added: “I couldn’t have dreamt that less than 12 months later I would be here celebrating a National Lottery win!”

His trip will be the first week of unpaid leave for the engineer since he started work at 16.

“I visit Tenerife three or four times a year, but when I left in September I told friends I probably couldn’t make it back before early 2025,” he said.

“Now, thanks to my Thunderball luck, I can afford to take a week off – unpaid – and head back for a little winter sun, and to celebrate with my friends over there,” he continued.

The engineer also said he might do a little house-hunting while on the island to have a “bolthole for the future” and so that he can share some of his fortune with those closest to him.

John added that he has no plans to retires but is keen to spend his money doing fun things with friends.

But first it will take some time adjusting to his new fortune.

He said: “I started playing when the National Lottery first began 30 years ago and, while all along I’ve believed that one day I would win big, now it’s happened it’s taken a bit of getting used to!”

“And having been through such a challenging time with my cancer diagnosis and treatment, I want to be sure I make the most of every moment, whether that’s work, rest or play.”

In his Markets Insight column Michael Howell warned of challenges for UK investors from “the great wall of debt” that will need refinancing in 2025/26 (October 17). It isn’t just investors who should worry. The prime collateral for all bank loans is property, or rather the land it sits on, because land is in fixed supply and cannot be consumed. Fred Harrison’s Boom Bust: House Prices, Banking and the Depression of 2010 (published in 2005) precisely predicted the peak of the last house price boom as end 2007. He predicts the next peak in 2026.

Carol Wilcox
Christchurch, Dorset, UK

SHOPPERS are rushing to snap up the £2.49 gadget at Wilko that could help dry clothes quicker.

It comes as the average UK family is forking out £1,834 a year on gas and electricity.

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And many of us are turning to heated airers to get clothes dry whilst it’s cold and wet outside.

The average Brit will do roughly four loads of laundry per week or 208 washes per year, a study by Ariel found.

For those who haven’t done the maths, it adds up to a shocking 13,000 loads of laundry across an entire lifetime.

But luckily Wilko has a £2.49 gadget that can help ease the costs of this unbearable load.

The Wool Dryer Balls, sold in a pack of two, offer an eco-friendly and reusable solution that claims to save up to £100 annually on dryer costs.

Made from 100% wool, these dryer balls help reduce drying time by increasing the airflow in your tumble dryer.

They work by separating clothes inside the drum, allowing heat to circulate more effectively.

This means your laundry dries faster, with less static, and comes out softer—all without the need for chemical fabric softeners.

According to Wilko, the balls not only help clothes dry quicker but also help soften fabrics and reduce wrinkles, making ironing easier.

The Wool Dryer Balls can be found in-store or purchased online, with free click-and-collect options or home delivery starting at £4.99.

Other dryer balls have been praised by buyers on Amazon.

A happy customer elsewhere told how similar products helped cut down drying time by 45 minutes.

Using dryer balls could be a way to reduce the amount of time and money spent on drying clothes, especially in the colder months when tumble dryers are in high demand.

A mum-of-three previously shared her huge savings after trying out tumble dryer balls.

She said: “Not only could I save £106.08 a year by using dryer balls, but my clothes came out feeling softer than usual and with less creases so they were easier to iron.”

This small, inexpensive purchase can help to bring down energy usage without requiring any drastic lifestyle changes or compromises in laundry routines.

MORE SAVING TIPS

Experts like Martyn James point out that tumble dryers, along with other “wet appliances” like washing machines and dishwashers, are some of the biggest energy users in the home.

He said: “The big offenders are ‘wet appliances’ including washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers,” he says.

“Try to only use them for full loads, learn more about what that ‘eco mode’ does as that could save you energy and drop the heat as low as you can go.

“These machines have to quickly generate heat, so can result in them adding a quarter of the cost of your energy bill.

“‘You should also regularly clean out the lint drawer, which can help your machine run more efficiently.

Other cost-saving tips include lowering the temperature when washing clothes, as consumer experts at Which? found that washing at 20°C instead of 40°C could reduce running costs by up to 62%.

Reducing the number of loads you do can cut your usage and bill, and making sure your doing a full load each time is one way to do this.

Another way is to get a bargain dehumidifier from B&M to dry clothes which can shave up to £74 off a crucial household bill.