Los Cabos, BCS. _ For the love of the land and the sea, Christy Walton has developed and implemented regeneration projects in various parts of the world, among them, the Baja California peninsula and the Sea of Cortez.
For this dedication and commitment to the sustainable development in the region, the businesswoman and philanthropist was awarded the Galleon 2024award, given by Sea of Cortez Forum.
He received the award from Agustin Coppel LukenHonorary President of this non-profit organization, in the framework of the Summit 2024 Cities with a Future. No fear of action.
The Galleon is an award that Sea of Cortez Forum instituted in 2023 to recognize outstanding figures for their leadership and contribution to the region. The first to receive it was Mr. Gastón Luken AguilarThe company's CEO, businessman and moral guide, during Summit 2023.
A call to action
In his message after receiving the Galleon 2024, Christy Walton emphasized the decline of the Sea of CortezThe acidification is driven by acidification from agricultural runoff, ship traffic, power plants spewing toxic metals and sulfuric acid, and free-flowing sewage from cities.
"Our work is with the sea, but also with the land, with the restoration of overgrazed watersheds. Animal management, the way we build what we build and the use of our natural resources," he said.
Walton stressed the need to adapt to the climate we are in by reducing energy needs, reusing water, using less water, not building in streams, and building for resilience.
"Our overall mindset needs to change to create an economy that supports the people who already live here and respectful tourism. Our goal is to deepen that. To create and inhabit spaces that feed us, that nourish us through being in nature and having access to it by growing healthy food both on the land and in the sea. Bringing freshwater back to the mountains and restoring habitat and biodiversity of species in both terrestrial and marine spaces," he said.
"The Sea of Cortez cannot support the Sahuaro project".
Christy Walton expressed that no one wants to see in the Sea of Cortez shrinking fish, loss of habitat and an increasingly degraded sea.
"Are we going to be an industrial wasteland, a massive degraded sea, or are we going to come together to restore the health of the aquarium?" he questioned. "We need a common vision and we need it now. The sea cannot support the Sahuaro project, with its sulfuric acid pollution, nor its 500 dirty fuel ships a year coming into the sea to transport gas to Asia."
He added that Los Cabos is not prepared to build 40,000 more homes without sewer and water infrastructure to deal with the waste, or the energy or fresh water to supply those homes.
"We must come together as city-states to manage and plan for growth and stop the business of unplanned and unsupported extractive development that is underway. People have said I am against progress, but I ask: What is progress? The idea of progress totally separate from natural resources is not progress. The loss of communities is not progress," he said.
Walton launched an invitation to be in community, in nature and in a healthy welfare system, with an economic model that is built for the long term.
Who is Chisty Walton?
.Christy Walton is founder of Alumbra Innovations (iAlumbra), a collective of social and environmental impact enterprises. It has worked hand in hand with diverse communities to foster innovation, citizen participation, and economic and environmental growth in different locations, from Mexico to the United States and Central America.
Its mission is to create a strong foundation for community development through investment in youth leadership, education, entrepreneurship and experiences that foster appreciation of the physical and cultural environments.
Through his work, Walton has promoted investment and philanthropy as tools for social transformation, combining them with sustainability advocacy and the creation of strategic alliances.
