Netwerk Universali b'saħħtu jespandi fiċ-Ċina & One Belt One Road

In a landmark agreement, in the side-lines of the Club of Rome’s 50th Anniversary, Geoffrey Lipman, Co-founder of the Strong Universal Network (SUNx) and Jinfeng Zhou Secretary General of The China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation [CBCGDF] agreed to expand the network established as a legacy to their friend and mentor Maurice Strong.

SUNx and CBCGDF will collaborate on the development of a Climate Resilience network and capacity building in China, One Belt One Road States and associated African countries. The main components of the partnership are:

• Establishment of a Beijing SUNx Centre

• Development of the SUNx Network in China, One Belt One Road, and Africa

• Hosting Strong Climate Action Days from a Beijing base

• Developing the Maurice Strong Legacy Scholarship Program in China and beyond

The parties agreed to immediately focus on promoting Climate Friendly Travel and specifically with reference to Parks, Protected Areas and Cultural Heritage locations.

Geoffrey Lipman said “This is a massive breakthrough in a program that was inspired by Maurice Strong, one of the fathers of Sustainable Development and a visionary who saw the travel and tourism sector as vital to global development but in need of an accelerated transformation to the New Climate Economy. It also reflects his view that the next generation will be the climate champions of our world and that China will play a leading role. We are delighted to partner with CBCGDF an organization with a proud record for sustainability and conservation leadership. We agree that Climate Change is the existential reality on the global agenda and that strengthened networks in the spirit of SDG 17 are a key to our future.”

Jinfeng Zhou said “I am particularly proud that we are making the agreement during the Club of Rome’s 50th Anniversary. As a newly elected member of the Club’s Executive Council, I believe it is precisely the kind of system change we stand for. It was why our friend Maurice Strong, whose legendary commitment to sustainable development of the planet and its people, is also reflected in the Club’s planetary boundaries vision. These are principles that we espouse at CBCGDF of action-oriented persuasion with a strong stakeholder engagement. Protected areas and species are a vital part of our bio-system and we need to step up our defences. The agreement comes at the time of publication of a new book Remembering Maurice Strong that shows so clearly where we have been and where we must urgently go.”

Zhou added “ We hope the SUNx Centres will also be places to showcase the renewed vision of the Club of Rome for accelerated change to a New Climate Economy.”

For more information please contact: SUNx, Olly Wheatcroft [protett bl-email] ; CBCGDF, Linda Wong, [protett bl-email]