Professor Geoffrey Lipman delivers keynote address to Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in Europe, warning that global sustainability frameworks are failing - urging a generational reset.

 

Speaking on World Environment Day at a UNESCO seminar hosted by the Caribbean Chamber of Commerce in Europe (CCCE), Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President of SUNx Malta and former President of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), and Assistant Secretary General, UNWTO, delivered a stark warning to the global tourism community: the sustainability frameworks underpinning the sector are failing, and a radical shift in thinking is urgently needed.

 

Drawing on six decades of experience in sustainable tourism, including senior roles at IATA, UNWTO and WTTC, Professor Lipman told delegates that the three pillars of the global green order are in crisis. SDG targets are forecast to be missed by 80%, the Montreal-Kunming Biodiversity framework faces equivalent gaps in funding and legal architecture, and the existential Paris 1.5°C climate pathway is "dying" as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise year on year.

 

He called on the sector to rethink hollow declarations and embrace what he termed "Carney-world new realism" - a reference to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's call at Davos for a pragmatic reassessment of the post-war international order.

 

"Our global sustainability model is becoming unsustainable," Professor Lipman said. "We are re-arranging the policy deckchairs on the Titanic, summit after summit, while falling short on 80% of our own self-declared targets."

 

Against this backdrop, SUNx Malta announced two significant programme expansions. The organisation's flagship 'Education to Action - A Plan For Our Kids' initiative - encompassing a postgraduate Climate Friendly Travel Diploma with over 150 graduates, 40 grassroots CFT Chapters across Small Island and Developing States, and a CFT Registry of more than 1,000 enrolled companies - will be complemented next month by a second foundation, SxBGI (SUNx BestStar Global Institute), established at the Hub for Humanity in The Hague in partnership with BestStar Holding Group, a major multi-sector development platform focussed on practical humanitarian solutions, led by Dr Arthur Eilers.

 

SxBGI will support climate-focused start-ups, new technologies and community projects, and will anchor a CFT Humanitarian Study Group taking families to visit Climate Friendly Travel destinations across the Global South. The programme will also expand the Dodo4Kids campaign - which uses books, cartoons and games to teach children about climate and environmental threats - following a recent launch in Malta that sent 1,000 books to children in Ukraine with the backing of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malta and the Secretary General of UN Tourism.

 

Professor Lipman closed with a challenge to his own generation: "Maybe we can recognise the New Reality - but it will be our kids and grandkids who master it. Our job is to start right now and genuinely help them on the path."

 

About SUNx Malta

SUNx Malta is a legacy program of the late Maurice Strong, built to support Climate Friendly Travel – low carbon, SDG-linked, and Paris 1.5-aligned. It is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority and its Tourism Observatory. Working with partners like the Institute of Tourism Studies Malta, SUNx develops climate resilience through education, innovation, and global engagement.

Media Contact: Olly Wheatcroft olly@thesunprogram.com

 The Strong Earth Festival focuses on fostering ways to encourage changes for a resilient future of travel and tourism industry. It will profile Climate Friendly Travel - Paris 1.5, SDG-linked and Nature Positive.

The event will also talk about various initiatives by us at SUNx Malta in our mission to advance Climate Friendly Travel, and how we plan to partner with our SDG 17 partners to work on joint initiatives. In addition, the event will also cover youth-led initiatives undertaken by our team, such as Global Dodo4Kids Climate Writing Competition.

We would like to invite you to join us at the Strong Earth Festival 2026. The free virtual event will take place April 29, 2026.

Please Click Here to Register

About SUNx Malta SUNx Malta is a legacy program of the late Maurice Strong, built to support Climate Friendly Travel – low carbon, SDG-linked, and Paris 1.5-aligned. It is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority. Working with partners like the Institute of Tourism Studies Malta, SUNx develops climate resilience through education, innovation, and global engagement.

#SustainableTourism #ClimateResilience #NaturePositive #ClimateAction #ClimateActionNow

Reflecting on COP 30, we believe at SUNx that there is one overriding, harsh message. The current global Climate Crisis response – including its tourism component – however well meaning, will simply not be enough to slow down the intensifying extreme weather impacts or counter the hovering planetary “tipping points” we are facing. 

 

Our world confronts an increasingly bleak future, punctuated by these annual voluntary pledging & review sessions, that never go far enough, fast enough to prevent dramatically worsening heat, drought, wildfires, hurricanes, floods & sea-level surges.

 

By the time the world reaches our targeted 2050 net zero goal, today’s children will be the adults tasked with navigating whatever environment we are shaping today. At SUNx Malta we believe we must prepare our kids & grandkids now, for that future. 

 

And that is why we launched Dodo4Kids for the very earliest learners and their families while traveling and when they return home. It introduces climate awareness through fun, online books, cartoons, gamification and the like – helping children understand the challenges ahead in a way that is honest yet hopeful. Our extinct Dodo is reincarnated to spark curiosity in the tourism wonders of our planet and give young minds the tools to adapt to the dominant impact of climate change that threatens them.

 

Yes, Tourism must play its full part in greenhouse gas reduction but we can only do so much. We can and must do more to adapt to the new realities – and the earlier the better. It is a skill that today’s children will have to rely on more than any generation before them. Fortunately, they will have the massive power of AI supported technology, which we never had, to shape their responses. And their inherent curiosity that we can harness from the outset in their learning patterns. We want to turn education into action, working in collaboration with AI. 

 

For more, please listen to Paul Wilke’s podcast with SUNx Malta’s Geoffrey Lipman on our Website, Spotify, or YouTube. For more information, please contact us at dodo@thesunprogram.com

 

#Dodo4Kids #COP30 #Belem #SustainableTourism #ClimateResilience #NaturePositive #YouthVoices #ClimateAction #ClimateActionNow

About SUNx Malta SUNx Malta is a legacy program of the late Maurice Strong, built to support Climate Friendly Travel – low carbon, SDG-linked, and Paris 1.5-aligned. It is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority. Working with partners like the Institute of Tourism Studies Malta, SUNx develops climate resilience through education, innovation, and global engagement.

SUN^x Malta and its local Uganda Chapter are highlighting the imperative for climate action in tourism now – during the forthcoming Pearl of Africa Tourism Expo (POATE) 2025 in Kampala, with a focus on supporting future generations.

One of the most active of our 60 Climate Friendly Travel Chapters around the world is in Uganda with nearly 100 hospitality stakeholders, including small tour operators, local community homesteads, and a wide range of hotels & lodges. It also includes the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), with its gorilla conservation activities.

This year our Chapter Leader, Tony Ofungi, founder of Maleng Travel, will showcase two major initiatives: -

 

• Dodo4Kids the inspirational program for primary learners, with eBooks, learning material and fun local exploration. We will profile a new eBook for Uganda showing our friendly re-incarnated dodo taking two Uganda children on a grand tour of the country to understand the threats that the intensifying Climate Crisis brings to tourism communities and wildlife.

 

• Dodo Trails - Uganda a brand new ‘voluntourism’ experience developed as part of a worldwide program with Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE), featuring the famous Gorillas but also with an impact mission to a local school to install solar power, giving renewable energy, light and internet access.

 

Professor Geoffrey Lipman President SUNx Malta said “It’s great to bring these important Education 2 Action programs to Africa and to do it with such an inspirational chapter as the one that Tony is leading in Uganda, as well as with Paras Loomba at GHE. We are convinced that it’s all our responsibilities to help prepare a better, cleaner and greener world for our kids and grandkids – carrying on a 50-year vision from our inspiration Maurice Strong, the UN pioneer of sustainable development.

 

Tony Ofungi, Uganda CFT Chapter Leader said “We are proud to be a pioneer of these global programs here in Uganda. We are a model for other African Nations and a rallying point for Climate Friendly Travel - Paris 1.5: SDG: Nature +ve, across the continent.

 

Paras Loomba, Founder of GHE said “GHE is excited to partner with SUNx and bring our Impact Trails model to Uganda through Dodo Trails. After 100+ expeditions across the Himalayas, it’s inspiring to now expand this work to schools in developing nations and small island states, in delivering clean energy and digital access where it’s needed most."

 

Contacts

SUNx Malta     olly@thesunprogram.com

Maleng Travel tonyofungi@gmail.com  

GHE                 info@ghe.co.in

               

Find us at POATE, Maleng Travel Stand T9 Munyonyo Convention Centre  uganda@thesunprogram.com