Madrid, Spain, 20 June 2018
– The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO),
Zurab Pololikashvili, called for the tourism sector to take more action
to combat climate change and biodiversity loss during the 30th joint
meeting of its Commissions for South Asia and Asia-Pacific in Fiji
(18-20 June 2018).
Adding
his voice to that of the host country, Mr. Pololikashvili advocated for
stronger partnerships and incentives for governments, businesses and
crucially tourists themselves to make a difference in climate action
efforts. He also made clear that sound policies must be built upon
accurate evidence, requiring the tourism sector to better measure its
impact on sustainability – while acknowledging progress has been made in
this regard, including UNWTO’s development of a statistical framework
to measure sustainable tourism.
The
remarks were made as part of a regional seminar on how tourism impacts
upon sustainable development efforts in the region and globally, held as
part of the meeting in the Fijian city of Nadi. The seminar featured
deep dialogue on how tourism policies, partnerships and investments can
tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.
This
was the first Joint Commission meeting held in a Pacific island nation.
The meeting and seminar highlighted the need for developing island
countries to collaborate on actionable policies, with measurable
results, to address climate change and biodiversity protection within
the tourism sector. UNWTO also pledged to raise further awareness of
climate change’s impacts and effects on tourism through capacity
building and educational opportunities.
“This
is the perfect place to have this conversation on climate change, as
Fiji continues to lead the efforts on climate resilience and
sustainability not only within the country but in the entire region.
This was also demonstrated during the Global Climate Summit COP 23, when
the Government of Fiji committed to the development of sustainable
tourism as a tool to tackle climate change”, said Mr. Pololikashvili.
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