Finnish Scout writes to Prime Minister about climate action and receives a surprising answer.
17 September 2019
Anni, a 10-year-old Cub Scout from Finland, wrote to Finland’s Prime Minister about how much she cares about the environment and received a surprising answer from Prime Minister Antti Rinne on a public Facebook post.
Early in September, Anni and her pack carried out environmental awareness activities to obtain the Panda Badge, a World Scouting badge for sustainability developed in partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), where one of the activities included writing a letter to a decision maker in their community.
Anni decided to take the initiative and write to Finland’s Prime Minister, because she had heard that “he is quite an influential person”. Anni sent her letter to the Prime Minister’s office, though forgot to include her mailing address.
In her letter, Annie informed Prime Minister Antti Rinne that as a Scout nature means a lot to her and that she believes the world is not investing enough to protect it, but that she would feel much safer if her country did so.
A few days ago, Prime Minister Antti Rinne, posted a photograph of Anni’s letter on a public Facebook post with his answer:
“I received a letter from a young Scout, I would love to reply, but unfortunately I don’t have an address. Perhaps through Facebook my answer will reach her.”
Prime Minister Rinne informed Anni that she is right about the world not investing enough resources to combat the global climate crisis but reassured her that Finland is taking serious steps towards combating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and focusing on Sustainable Development.
He even told the young Scout that although he may not be able to share her concerns with the rest of the world, that he will certainly inform Europe’s prime ministers and presidents about her letter.
“It’s about a better and safer future for you and all other children,” wrote Prime Minister Rinne in his final remarks.
Through Scouting and other educational programmes, millions of Scouts like Anni around the world are learning how they can take action to protect environment, how to become advocates for combatting climate change, and how they can significantly contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Since 2018 World Scouting committed to making the largest youth contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and launched its flagship initiative Scouts for SDGs. The initiative has been adopted by all 170 National Scout Organizations around the world to involve 50 million Scouts in active citizenship to build a sustainable and peaceful future.
Learn how you can get involved at sdgs.scout.org
You can see Prime Minister Antti Rinne’s original response here
