The climate cost of scouts’ ill-judged South Korea jamboree

The campsite of the World Scout Jamboree in Buan, South Korea. ‘We all need to learn that real sacrifices have to be made if we are serious about environmental issues.’ Photograph: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

The Scouts’ promise to the planet states: “We know how important tackling climate change is and that’s why we empower young people with the skills to campaign at a local, national and international level, to drive forward the changes required to heal our planet.” How, with this in mind, can they justify participating in a world jamboree in South Korea (US and UK scouts pull out of world jamboree campsite due to extreme heat, 5 August) with 43,000 attendees?

The 4,500 scouts from the UK, each having flown for more than 11 hours (creating thousands of tons of CO₂ emissions) and maybe a little less resilient than their predecessors, have found camping conditions less than satisfactory due to warmer than expected weather, and now find themselves in air-conditioned hotels.