PATA Partners with SUNx Program to Educate Young Travellers

Picture: Peter Semone, Chair, PATA (left), and Noor Ahmad Hamid, CEO, PATA (right), present a certificate of recognition to Professor Geoffrey Lipman, President, SUNx Malta, in honour of the partnership between the two organisations.

BANGKOK, May 15, 2025 – The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) is pleased to announce a new organisational partnership with the SUNx Institute, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed during the PATA Annual Summit 2025 (PAS 2025) in İstanbul, Türkiye. The partnership marks a shared commitment to supporting climate resilience and sustainable development across the travel and tourism sector.

The agreement, signed by SUNx Malta President, Professor Geoffrey Lipman, and PATA CEO, Noor Ahmad Hamid, is guided by Sustainable Development Goal 17 — Partnerships for the Goals. This goal underscores the importance of collective action in achieving sustainable outcomes, particularly in addressing the global climate crisis.

“We are proud to partner with Professor Geoffrey Lipman and the SUNx team, whose dedication to climate resilience and Climate Friendly Travel continues to inspire meaningful change across our industry,” said PATA CEO Noor Ahmad Hamid. “This collaboration is more than a formal agreement, it is a shared commitment to invest in the future. By working with SUNx, PATA hopes to empower the next generation of travellers to be responsible, resilient, and climate conscious global citizens who continue to pursue best-practices that promote and foster sustainable tourism.”

At the heart of the agreement is a joint focus on the Dodo4Kids education program, an initiative designed to introduce Climate Friendly Travel (CFT) to young learners and their families. PATA and SUNx Institute will work together to expand climate literacy and embed sustainability principles at an early age, nurturing the next generation of conscious travellers and changemakers through educational animations and valuable learning materials.

Professor Geoffrey Lipman said, “We are all in this together, as we grapple with the intensifying challenges of a climate constrained world. And we know that our kids and grandkids will have to face tougher climate driven realities. Dodo4Kids helps prepare early learners to fight the good fight through Climate Friendly Travel that responds to extreme weather in a sustainable and nature positive way. It's a perfect fit with PATA’s vision of a meaningful future.”

About SUNx Malta - Strong Universal Network

SUNx Malta is a legacy for the late Maurice Strong, father of sustainable development. Its goal is to advance Climate Friendly Travel (CFT) ~ Paris 1.5: SDG linked: Nature positive. With Malta's Ministry of Tourism and Malta Tourism Authority, it aims to support Tourism companies through a UNFCCC-linked CFT Registry, promote CFT Education, and put in place 100,000 Strong Climate Activists by 2030 across all UN states.