Press release from the Government of the Republic of Estonia
Tallinn, 24 January 2020 – At the World Cleanup Day Conference in Tallinn, Prime Minister Jüri Ratas made the opening speech, in which he emphasised that World Cleanup Day is held only once a year, but to keep the nature and environment clean, each one of us has to contribute daily.
According to the prime minister, the World Cleanup Day has managed to make an Estonian collective action into a global movement. “I am pleased that the World Cleanup Day, which started in Estonia, has become an Estonian tradition and part of our nation’s brand. I sincerely thank all of you for contributing your time and energy to a better future for all of us,” said Ratas at the World Cleanup Day Conference in Nordic Hotel Forum.
Speaking more broadly on the topics of environment and climate change, the prime minister pointed out that the clean-up day is much more than just the world’s largest citizens’ initiative. In addition to cleaning up our home planet, it also provides an opportunity to think about changing our everyday consumption patterns. “In the example of Estonia, it must be stated that achieving climate neutrality is only 20% dependent on the public sector. The rest is up to the business sector, and the basis of all innovation are people’s daily habits,” said Ratas.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our descendants. It is important that we all combine our efforts in a meaningful way. This means that solutions must be sought and implemented by everyone: politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists, and people. This is how our descendants will have a better life,” said the prime minister.
According to him, there are still many unanswered questions and choices to be made regarding environmental conservation. For example, answers must be found to questions on what could be improved in education to preserve the environment and how to increase the involvement of the society while preventing the youth from giving up on having children or from giving up meat in their diet.
According to the prime minister, he intends to take part of the World Cleanup Day again this year, which is held on 19 September, and invite more heads of state to attend the event.
Photos from the conference (Kristi Sits): https://flic.kr/s/aHsmKWZWSS
—
Date of publication: 24 Jan 2020
Announcements are published as a service to readers. The sender is responsible for all content.
Announcements for publication can be submitted to kevin@thehanseatic.com.