Youth, Culture, and Climate Unite: RAYS and RWMF 2025 Light Up Sarawak as Global Hub for Sustainability and Music

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - Rainforest Youth Summit (RAYS) and Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) 2025 are taking place in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia from 18 to 22 June 2025.

Quoted from its official release, RAYS 2025 was a summit of young men and women from all over the world about the environment and tourism. This year, RAYS with the theme "Living Landscapes: Charting a Sustainable Future" was attended by 700 delegates across South East Asia.

For three days, participants were involved in sessions on climate, biodiversity, local knowledge, and sustainable development. RAYS 2025 also highlighted Sarawak's position in empowering young men and women from ASEAN to take action to preserve the environment from the ground up.

This was possible because participants learned not only from experts but from the surrounding environment itself. They were involved in field studies, cultural performances, and networking forums.

Participants also learned about the links between community-based tourism, forest protection and indigenous peoples’ stewardship. With strong support from Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2025, UN Tourism and PATA, RAYS 2025 strengthened Sarawak’s global role as a youth-led hub for sustainable development.

This year’s summit also introduced the Youth Content Microgrant to fund youth advocacy projects and amplify voices from ASEAN’s frontline on environmental issues.

Furthermore, participants received a one-day access to the RWMF 2025 event which runs from 20 to 22 June at the Sarawak Cultural Village. This year’s RWMF theme is “CONNECTIONS: One Earth, One Love.”

RWMF 2025 will showcase 200 performers from 20 countries including Sarawak icon At Adau as well as international icons such as Otyken (Russia) and Earth, Wind & Fire Experience by Al McKay (USA); the festival is a dynamic expression of Sarawak’s cultural diversity and artistic openness.

RWMF 2025 also features an environmentally conscious festival through a number of initiatives including solar-powered charging stations and carbon footprint tracking devices, a zero-single-use plastic campaign and on-site food waste composting, recycled festival lanyards produced by local single mothers, and the Eco Green Planet tree planting program, which offsets carbon emissions.

“These efforts are in line with Sarawak’s Post COVID-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030) and the five targeted UN Sustainable Development Goals, including Climate Action, Responsible Consumption and Partnerships for the Goals.”

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