A Highland schoolboy sacked by a conservation body after a row over Bear Grylls is tomorrow taking his anti-pollution message to the heart of the European Parliament.
Finlay Pringle, 11, from Ullapool in Wester Ross, is the only protester to have been chosen from Scotland.
He is travelling 2,000 miles by train on a return journey to lobby over climate change.
He will join pupils from countries across the world including Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands.
Schoolboy, 11, sacked over row with Bear Grylls gets a second bite at his shark job
Green parties at the parliament in Strasbourg want young activists from around the world to attend a climate change debate tomorrow and then speak to the media about their concerns afterwards.
“I will get to listen to the debate, speak with politicians and over 500 reporters about these important issues,” said Finlay.
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“Most of all I want the people who make decisions over our lives to see this world is dying.
“I want them to reduce man’s carbon footprint as well as cut back on farming and plastic use. I hope that I – and other young people – can influence the people we trust to look after us.”
Finlay’s father, Geoff, who is also going on the trip, backed his son’s action.
He said: “I am very proud of him – he does not just sit behind a keyboard but gets out there and campaigns. We have always been very supportive and proud of what he is doing because it is a major issue for his generation.
“We have been talking about this since the 1980s and we just haven’t done anything about it and the message needs to be heard.”
Last year two of the biggest names in wildlife television were at the centre of an extraordinary row over Finlay.
Finlay criticised celebrity survival expert Grylls for keeping sharks in tanks at his £20 million adventure park, but this led to him losing his ‘Shark Ambassador’ role with a conservation group for being too outspoken.
He had told Grylls – who also holds the role of Chief Scout: “You suck” and “Worst Chief Scout Ever”.
But BBC Springwatch presenter Chris Packham leapt to the defence of the schoolboy, praising him for standing up for his beliefs.
Now the charity Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has made Finlay their shark ambassador instead.
