Anote Tong and Modadugu Vijay Gupta chosen as Sunhak Peace Prize winners

Contributing to the Peace and Welfare of Future Generations Anote Tong, Raising Awareness for Climate Change, Finding a Global Solution Dr. Gupta, The Blue Revolution as an alternative for Future Food Crises The ‘Korea Nobel Prize’ for Realizing World Peace and Human Welfare Proposition for a New Peace Civilization…Cultivating Rev. Sun Myung Moon’s Will

Kiribati President Anote Tong (63) and Dr. Modadugu Vijay Gupta (76) of India were selected as the co- recipients for the first Sunhak Peace Prize. On the 8th, the Sunhak Peace Prize Committee (Chairman Il- Shik Hong, former Secretary General of Korea University) held a press conference with domestic and foreign journalists in Washington, DC. They announced that President Anote Tong, who raised awareness on the gravity of climate change in the global community, and Dr. Gupta, who contributed towards resolving Southeast Asia’s poverty and food crisis, were selected as the co-recipients of the first Sunhak Peace Prize.

The committee received recommendations for 182 candidates from 66 nations through well-known persons from each nation, global academic organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the judging period lasted one year.

The Sunhak Peace Prize was established by Dr. Hak Ja Han fulfilling the wish of the founder of the Family Federation, Rev. Sun Myung Moon in order to discover and recognize individuals and organizations who have contributed towards the peace and welfare of future generations.

Cultivating Peace on the Frontline of Climate Change

President Anote Tong has been raising awareness about his homeland’s critical situation, which bears the risk of total submersion by the ocean by 2050, due to the rising sea levels caused by global warming. He has also been promoting awareness in the global community on the gravity of climate change, and leading the search for a global solution to environmental change, and has been highly praised for his efforts.

Kiribati President Anote Tong has been consistently calling for the attention of the UN and other major international organizations toward climate change, and has been searching for a global resolution. He has been playing a vital role in establishing a comprehensive consultative group in order to lead the global community’s active resolution measures.

He adopted the “Ambo Declaration” at the Kiribati Climate Change Agreement Conference held in 2010 where heads from each nation were invited. Later, at the “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change” (UNFCC) held in Mexico during that same year, this declaration became the stepping stone for advanced economic nations to come to support nations like Kiribati who are vulnerable to climate change.

Furthermore, he is also on the forefront of ocean preservation activities aimed to protect the Pacific Ocean area as a repository of resources for the sake of future generations. At the World Conservation Headquarters Conference in 2006, President Tong declared the “Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA)” in order to protect the Phoenix Islands, which is the most preserved marine area in the world. In 2010, the Phoenix Islands were registered as the largest world heritage site by UNESCO.Furthermore, he also led the establishment of the “Pacific Oceanscape,” which is a mutual cooperation network established by 23 small Pacific nations; and has been making global plans to preserve the oceanic environment throughout the Pacific region.

He spoke after having been selected as a recipient, “I am extremely honored to have been selected as the recipient of the first Sunhak Peace Prize. It is very inspiring to see that Korea, which is not even an international organization like the UN, is taking a great interest in climate change. I am especially happy to have the opportunity to talk about the gravity of climate change in Korea.”

The Pioneer of the ‘Blue Revolution’ as an Alternative to Future Food Crises

Dr. Modudagu Vijay Gupta has devoted his life to developing a fish farming technology as an alternative to future food crises, and has been leading the “Blue Revolution.” He has given this fish farming technology to many poor people in Southeast Asia and Africa, and has been widely recognized for making possible the gift of self-sufficiency and independence…