Katowice (Poland) – December 14, 2018 (travelindex.com) – An SDG 17 Partnership, for Climate-Friendly Travel, was announced on 14th December at COP 24 in Katowice, Poland. The partnership between EXO Foundation who support Sustainable Development projects through responsible tourism in South East Asia and SUNx the Strong Universal Network, a legacy program for Maurice Strong responding to eXistential Climate Change.
It focusses on a shared commitment to develop the Maurice Strong Legacy Scholarship Program, under the SUNx “Plan for Our Kids” with EXO Foundation as the first regional sponsor.
Speaking from the COP 24, the UNFCCC Climate Change conference Professor Geoffrey Lipman, co-founder of SUNx said:
“We are delighted to announce our partnership with EXO Foundation as our first regional sponsor of our “ Plan for our Kids” and its Maurice Strong Legacy Scholarship Program. Together we have identified an opportunity to help strengthen education on Climate Resilience for Travel & Tourism in South-East Asia. Through our partnership EXO Foundation is supporting the lifetime learning of 21 graduates committed to Sustainable Tourism Development, with a focus on Climate Friendly Travel.
Our strategy is to create a cadre of 100,000 next generation of “Strong Climate Champions” by 2030, to help to drive the behavioural change and influence the fundamental government and industry actions needed to tackle Climate Change.
Strong Climate Champions will be graduates, who engage in the movement for Climate Friendly Travel, for transformation to the New Climate Economy. They will help to build the thinking; drive the behaviour, identify innovations and influence the fundamental government and industry actions needed.”
Lipman added that “The awardees, based on 1000-word essays on practical aspects of Climate Friendly Travel, will be linked with EXO Foundation through a certificate of excellence and lifetime access to the SUNx learning platform. This includes curated information on Climate Resilience, and a Climate Friendly Travel Course, supporting transformation of the sector to the New Climate Economy.”
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.”
About Strong Universal Network SUNx
The Strong Universal Network SUNx, is a program of the EU based, not for profit Green Growth and Travelism Institute, and a legacy to the late Maurice Strong – Sustainable Development Pioneer. Its goal is to promote Climate Friendly Travel with good & bad effects measured and managed coherently: with Green Growth at the core and, 2050-proof in line with the Paris Accords and the W.E.F. 4th Industrial Revolution.
EXO Foundation is an apolitical, secular and not-for-profit organization officially registered under the Ministry of Interior of the Royal Government of Cambodia. It was established in 2011 by EXO Travel, a leading tour operator in Asia operating in 10 different countries: Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore. Although EXO Travel remains our major donor and covers all our operational costs, EXO Foundation acts as a separate and independent non-profit organization.
