Following is the Statement of the Tourism Secretary, Govt. of India, Sh. S. Banerjee on “Climate Change and Tourism”. The Statement was delivered at the Ministerial Summit on Tourism and Climate Change held at London on November 13, 2007.
“As a developing country, it is important for India to strive to bring to its people a better quality of life and a higher level of human development. In this regard, we are making major efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development objectives apart from those we have set ourselves nationally.
India is acutely aware of the considerable challenge we face today from climate change. We, like other developing countries, bear an inordinate share of the burden of Climate Change even though this is due to high-level emissions of developed countries. In such circumstances, we must significantly shore up our abilities to cope with and adapt to Climate Change. To be able to do so, we need development, which is also the best form of adaptation.
Tourism now plays an extremely important role in the economy of our country and we would like to see this sector deliver on its full potential in assisting us with accelerated economic growth and development. The Indian tourism industry has witnessed an increase of 13.5% in international tourist arrivals in 2006 and this on the rise. We are very conscious of the need to promote sustainable development of tourism. Our efforts are aimed at making India an ecologically and socially sensitive tourism destination.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has one of the largest number of State Parties of any multilateral instrument. It is, therefore, appropriate that matters relating to climate change are addressed in the UNFCCC. At the UN-WTO we need to try and take stock of the situation as it affects our sector and see what can be done to adapt to the inevitability of further global warming, especially as far as developing countries are concerned.
One of the main aims of UNWTO is to pay particular attention to policy measures in the field of tourism and not concern itself with matters relating to negotiations on climate change and what is being addressed in other forums. In this regard, we would like to see the Davos Declaration that we have before us, concentrate on policies and measures in the tourism sector. We have made some suggestions to ensure that the Declaration focuses on our mandate.
We note that the Declaration seeks to promote the concept of ‘tourist destination carbon footprint’. Such a measure needs to reflect the inherent carbon footprint of the destination and should not be used as non-tariff barriers to the flow of tourism in the world.
The UNWTO aims at assisting developing countries in the field of tourism. It should not become an instrument to maintain economic status quo and encourage the use of environmental conditionalities as barriers to international tourism, particularly in developing countries”.
Following Conclusions were made at the Ministers’ Summit on Tourism and Climate Change, London
The participants to the Ministers’ Summit on Tourism and Climate Change gathered in London on 13 November, 2007 welcome the initiatives taken by the tourism sector under the leadership of UNWTO in cooperation with UNEP and WMO to address the causes and consequences of climate change for the tourism sector.
The participants strongly endorse the Davos Declaration and urge all tourism stakeholders to follow its recommendations.
Some delegations made however specific comments, and request the Secretary General of UNWTO to report on them to the UNWTO General Assembly and at the Bali Summit on climate change.
The Delegation of Australia wishes to record the following statement:
Tourism Ministers support effective global action to address climate change. Policy responses should be balanced and comprehensive and focus on measures which are economically efficient. The tourism sector must play a strong role as part of a broader response to climate change; however it should not be disadvantaged through the imposition of a disproportionate burden either on tourism as a whole or on vital components such as aviation.
The Delegation of Bangladesh wishes to stress that special consideration should be given to Least Developed Countries and Small
Island Developing States in the provision of financial, technical and training support to tourism destinations and operators. A specific reference is made to the support to their National Adaptation Programme of action on climate change through contributions to the UNFCC LDC Trust Fund. It also suggest to add a specific reference to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites when describing actions addressed at conserving biodiversity, natural ecosystems and landscape.
The delegation of India wishes to put on record the following statements:
India is acutely aware of the considerable challenge we face today from climate change. We, like other developing countries, bear an inordinate share of the burden of Climate Change even though this is due to high-level emissions of developed countries. In such circumstances, we must significantly shore up our abilities to cope with and adapt to Climate Change. To be able to do so, we need development, which is also the best form of adaptation.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has one of the largest numbers of State parties of any multilateral instrument. It is, therefore, appropriate that matters relating to climate change are addressed in the UNFCCC. At the UNWTO we need to try and take stock of the situation as it affects our sector and see what can be done to adapt to the inevitability of further global warming, especially as far as developing countries are concerned.
The delegation of Brazil wishes to reinforce the principle of common and differentiated responsibilities as included in the UNFCCC, especially in the section of the Davos Declaration calling for actions of the different stakeholders. It also suggest to add the following paragraph under the section relating to actions from Governments and international Organizations: assist developing countries where the tourism sector is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effect of climate change, in order to allow them to meet the costs of adaptation to those adverse effect.
The delegation of Uruguay suggests adding the following paragraph related to the actions of tourism industry and destinations: The private sector should proportionally contribute to the costs that imply preventing, mitigating and adapting to climate change.
The delegation of Maldives suggests undertaking awareness activities on the importance of climate change.
Source: PIB
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