CLIMATE CHANGE

All the major inter-governmental agencies involved directly or indirectly in tourism have focused on the climate change issue either via major conferences or reports.

Tourism is both affected by climate change - and a contributor to this major phenomenon. The impacts may vary, from decrease in snowfall and loss of glaciers to increased tropical cyclone activity and ever more frequent heatwaves, but no part of the globe will be spared. For tourism, the impact will be felt directly on the livelihood of people working or staying in coastal and mountain areas, on tourism infrastructure, and indirectly on employment, development and investment in these zones.

UNESCO Technical Seminar on Tourism & Climate Change with the participation of UNEP, UNWTO and OECD, Paris, 15 March 2007

The meeting, which brought together some 40 participants from the international agencies, private sector bodies and research institutes, was designed to bridge the gap between researchers and travel and tourism stakeholders.

Under scrutiny at UNESCO were such questions as : to what extent will climate change modify the features of tourism destinations? what is the current contribution of tourism to greenhouse emissions? What mitigation options are available?

E-CLAT electronic Climate Change and Tourism research network - Documents of interest

UNWTO – UN World Tourism Organisation

• Conference on Tourism & Climate Change, Djerba, Tunisia 2003 & Djerba Declaration
• 2nd Conference on Tourism & Climate Change, November 2007, Cartagena, Colombia

Click here for more UNWTO documents