Children – deciders of Earth’s future

Hanoi (VNA) – The environment education for children, who are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation than other groups, is considered the key for ensuring a better future of the Earth.

According to the World Health Organisation, each year, about 7 million people die of air pollution, of which nearly 4 million are from the Asia-Pacific region. About 92 percent of people in the world are not breathing clean air, while more than 88 percent of diseases caused by environmental pollution and climate change occur in children under five years of age.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU)’s International Letter Writing Competition has become good way to educate children on environmental protection.

This year, the UPU is running its 51st International Letter-Writing Competition with the theme: “Write a letter to someone influential explaining why and how they should take action on the climate crisis.”

In Vietnam, this is the 34th competition co-organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Vietnam Writers Association, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee and Central Children's Council.

 

The competition was launched and promoted nationwide from November 2021 to March 2022. The Organising Board received nearly one million letters from pupils from 62 cities and provinces.

The theme asked participants to write a letter to an influential person, so the recipients they chose were quite diverse and unexpected. These are persons with global roles, positions and responsibilities such as United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guitares, COP 26 Summit President Alok Sharm, or Leader of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Heosung Lee and Chairman of the Wildlife Protection Association, etc. They are also leaders of the Vietnamese State and Government, ministers of many sectors, and famous persons who win their trust.

After five rounds, 100 letters were selected to the final one for one First Prize, three Second Prizes, five Third Prizes, 30 Consolation Prizes, 61 Promising Writers Prize; and two prizes for candidates who are disabled. The participants who won the first and second prizes were awarded the Creative Youth Badge by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

Nguyen Binh Nguyen from class 9A1 of the Nguyen Tri Phuong Secondary School, Ba Dinh district, Hanoi won the National First Prize of the 51st UPU International Letter Writing Competition (2022) in Vietnam. The owner of the first prize chose the idea of transforming into the wind to send a letter to pianist Dang Thai Son. The letter is a beautiful piece of writing with the message: Music will ease the tension around the global climate crisis. Music has "soft power" to help people change awareness of protecting the living environment.

Over the years, the Ministry of Education and Training has focused on including environment, climate change and natural disaster mitigation education into school curricula at all levels.

The ministry has also coordinated with relevant ministries and agencies as well as UNICEF in Vietnam to educate children on the significance of environmental protection and the response to climate change and sea level rise.

Once children have a sense of preserving the natural environment from an early age, this will be the guarantee for the sustainable future of the Green Planet./.