Petteri Taalas named European of the Year by Reader’s Digest
Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the WMO, holding the Reader's Digest European of the Year award for 2021. (Picture: By courtesy of WMO) Each year Reader's Digest editors in Europe nominate a shortlist of Europeans who have had a major influence on a pressing contemporary issue and are helping to make the world a better place. First launched in 1996, the European of the Year for 2021 is 59-year-old Finnish meteorologist Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He has been presented with the award trophy at WMO headquarters in Geneva. The award recognizes Petteri Taalas's achievement in prompting action by European and world leaders, as well as by the European Union, the United Nations and big corporations such as IBM and Google, to play a role in the prevention of climate change and to mitigate its impacts. Taalas explains, "Growing numbers of states and individuals are aw...