Wednesday, June 9, 2021
On World Environment Day, June 5, Planet Happiness signed UN Sustainable Development Goal MOUs with SUNx Malta and One Nature Global.
The aim is to create mutual support between Planet Happiness, with its objective of measuring and enhancing host well-being in tourism destinations, and SUNx, which aims to advance climate-friendly travel based on low carbon outputs.
Both parties will focus attention on the well-being agenda to strengthen destination sustainability. They will work together partnering with destinations to engage businesses and host communities in steps to deliver climate-friendly travel.
“We’re entering a new era of responsible travel and destination sustainability,” said Dr Paul Rogers, co-founder of Planet Happiness, a tourism and big data project of non-profit Happiness Alliance.
“Our MOU with SUNx enables us both to campaign for destination sustainability in a way that respects host communities, their cultural heritage, and the natural environment,” he said.
On signing the agreement, June 5, Geoffrey Lipman, Director of SUNx, commented: “In honour of World Environment Day and climate and sustainability activist, the late Maurice Strong, SUNx Malta and Planet Happiness will work to ensure that happiness is factored into climate-friendly low-carbon travel goals, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
“We’re delighted to add Planet Happiness to our growing list of SDG17 Partners. We’re grateful for their shared commitment to make a better world for all our kids,” said Lipman.
Planet Happiness and SUNx are now inviting travel and tourism companies and destinations to join and register to help the well-being and climate-friendly travel agenda. They can do this by requesting a well-being survey of a destination. Or by committing to the SUNx registry, which is a movement to create 100,000 climate “Strong” organisations and companies by 2030.
Planet Happiness has also signed an MOU with One Nature Global, a non-profit charitable organisation in the United States that focuses upon connectivity between human well-being and wildlife conservation.
Beth Allgood, the founder of One Nature Global said: “It’s so important that we value and measure what really matters and move beyond GDP as a measure of human progress. To improve community well-being and stop the species extinction crisis, we must understand and demonstrate the interconnection of wildlife and human wellbeing so animals, people and nature can flourish together. That’s why we will work with Planet Happiness to protect wild animals and habitats by conducting research that indicates the value of wildlife conservation to healthy and happy human communities.”
Recognising that the travel and tourism sector has suffered devastating losses owing to COVID-19, Planet Happiness believes now is the time for the industry to evolve and place destination well-being front and centre.
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