By Cristina Talanco
At SUNx Malta, we have the goal of supporting 100,000 STRONG Climate Champions in every UN State by 2030 to help companies and communities transform to Climate Friendly Travel (CFT). The initiative carried on the vision of Maurice Strong, the father of Sustainable Development, who believed that 'Travelism' (Travel & Tourism) could be a catalyst for positive change, is driven by sponsored Community Programs which give a critical CSR and Human Resource benefit to companies and communities.
SUNx Malta, in partnership with the EXO Foundation, has launched a "Plan For Our Kids" Program to support STRONG Climate Champions for Cambodia and Bali. It focusses on a shared commitment to developing the Maurice Strong Legacy Scholarship Program. Each country's program will provide Lifetime Learning from school through university, into corporate training programs, for 50 of tomorrow's leaders to focus on Climate Resilience.
Given that Travel & Tourism cuts across many sectors, the Portal and training will also be of general interest to a broad cross-section of undergraduate and postgraduate disciplines. Together they are the core induction for SUNx Members – committed to a leadership role in proactively helping communities adjust for changing visitor patterns and habits, in a climate intensifying world.
Alexandra Michat, EXO Foundation Manager, said:
"The vision of EXO Foundation is to use tourism to make destinations better places for people to live in, and for travellers to visit. We aim to be a driving force in actively fostering sustainable development and improving positive societal and environmental changes through the promotion of responsible tourism. Through our partnership with SUNx, we want to support the next generation of Climate Change activists who will help shape the future of the Travel industry in SE Asia. Together we will identify academic partners to promote the call for nominations and support their work on Climate Resilience education to Tourism students."
The Climate Champions program is designed to support the next generation of pioneers, who, like Maurice Strong, recognise the existential threat of Climate Change and are committed to taking action.
Professor Geoffrey Lipman President SUNx Malta added “ It is tremendous to engage with visionary companies like EXO travel and its Foundation to help build a green and clean future for the next generation. They are our best hope”
To learn more about The Bali and Cambodia Climate Champions programs, please visit:
https://www.thesunprogram.com/climate-champions/cambodia-programme
https://www.thesunprogram.com/climate-champions/bali-programme