Janet Silvera, Senior Tourism Writer

Unless the Caribbean takes steps to reverse the effects of climate change in the region, tourist could stay away, warned Dr Murray Simpson, senior researchassociate at the Oxford University Centre for the Environment.

The Caribbean , he said, is listed among the tourism vulnerability 'hot spots'. He said: "Air temperature, sea surface temperature, a rise in sea level, coastal erosion, changes in levels of precipitation, and an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme events such as drought, flood, storm surge and hurricanes are all indicative of both gradual and extreme impacts of unchecked climate change."

Various challenges

He was addressing delegates on the subject, 'Challenges for the Caribbean Coastal Tourism Environment', at the 10th annual Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development (CTC-10), which took place last week in Providenciales in Turks and Caicos Islands.

The environmental researcher said it was regrettable that the Caribbean should bear the burden of unchecked environmental issues, even though it was not a major contributor to global warming. The scientific evidence was clear, he said, that climate change must be considered the greatest challenge to sustainable development and tourism in the 21st century. Tourism's role, he continued, is to show leadership as an agent of change for both adaptation and mitigation.

The solutions, he said, include mitigation measures to achieve carbon neutrality for businesses and institutions. These include eliminating the emission of greenhouse gases by opposing activities that are not entirely necessary.

"We can reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by focusing on energy efficiency practices in specific activities," said Simpson. "We can also substitute practices that are responsible for a big amount of greenhouse gases emissions with practices that have a lower climate footprint. An institution or business unit can then offset remaining emissions to achieve full climate neutrality."

The 10th annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism was organised by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation in collaboration with the Turks & Caicos Islands Tourist Board and the Caribbean Hotel Association. It is designed to provide participants with information on the development and implementation of tourism practices in a responsible manner.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com