Sustainability in Asia

Sustainability Awards: Sustainable Innovations in Asia

The inaugural edition of the EXO Foundation Sustainability Awards honored organizations and projects advancing sustainability from across Asia.

With the aims of identifying, supporting and promoting exemplary initiatives and projects (by both businesses and non-profit organizations) that seek to innovate sustainability in Asia, the award program selected twenty nominees, from over 50 applicants, across five categories: Climate Action, Circular Economy, Regenerating Nature, Empowering Communities and Protecting Cultural Heritage.

The 2023 awardees were announced on September 28th during a virtual award ceremony, attended by 100+ awardees, partners, supporters and sustainability change makers from across the region.

Panel Discussion: Sustainable Tourism Practices in Asia

Following the award ceremony, a virtual panel discussion on sustainability in Asia was hosted, moderated by Nia Klatte, and with contributions by Ayako Ezaki (TrainingAid), Bijan Khazai (Hotel Resilient), and Benjamin Lephilibert (LightBlue Environmental Consulting), providing insights on the current state of tourism in Asia, post-pandemic impacts, and the way forward for sustainable and responsible tourism practices.

The panel highlighted opportunities to promote and strengthen sustainability efforts in Asia (particularly in the post-COVID context), and key ingredients for making tourism more sustainable, regenerative and climate-positive, such as:

• Shifting mindsets about the needs and relevance of sustainability issues.
• Speaking the right language to connect with people about sustainability priorities.
• Spreading innovative ideas, examples and inspirations through collaboration within and across the sector.

The recording of the panel discussion is available here: