Climate change to head UNWTO agenda at WTM

Climate change will head the agenda of a UNWTO Ministers’ Summit to be held at World Travel Market in London in November.

Ministers will be asked to consider and ratify a declaration recommended by environmental experts at the UNWTO’s Summit on Climate Change to be held in Davos, Switzerland next month.

The declaration is to be put to the UNWTO’s general assembly at the end of November and will be a major aspect of the organisation’s submission to the UN’s Bali Climate Summit in December. 

UNWTO secretary general General Francesco Frangialli called it “the most important and intensive tourism industry analysis on climate ever undertaken and a key component of the overall global response to an issue, which is, together with poverty alleviation, the challenge of our times”.

The ministers’ summit on November 13 forms part of WTM’s Ministers’ Programme, now in its third year.

The Summit on Tourism and Climate Change is to be held on the eve of the first WTM World Responsible Tourism Day, again in association with the UNWTO, on November 14.

WTM chairman Fiona Jeffery said: “This is a high level event that we hope will make a meaningful contribution to the discussion on the impact of climate change and its knock-on effect on travel and tourism.

“It is important to remember that tourism is not just a potential victim of climate change – although that in itself is of grave concern – but also contributes to its causes. Every one of us has to be concerned, involved and committed to protecting our world and our industry, not only for now, but for future generations.

“The ministers’ summit at World Travel Market is an historic event that impacts the entire international travel and tourism industry. This is the reason why we will take steps to ensure that everyone working in the international industry can hear the discussions during the Summit and its outcome.

UNWTO spokesman Geoffrey Lipman said: “We believe that UNWTO has a unique opportunity to input to the global decision making process on this critical matter of Climate Response.

“We plan to do this in a way that reflects key issues of importance to the public and private sector players who we represent, as well as destinations and travellers themselves. We will also ensure that there is a real coherence between Climate Change solutions and the Millennium Development Goals, as they apply to our sector.”

by Phil Davies