Charles Ajunwa
11 November 2009
London — President of the World Travel Market (WTM), the premier global event for the travel industry, Fiona Jeffery, yesterday warned that climate change is already causing annual death toll equivalent to the Boxing Day Tsunami.
She said statistics from the Global Humanitarian Forum, has it that climate change accounts for more than 300,000 deaths each year.
Jeffery disclosed these at the World Travel Market's Ministers' meeting organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNW-TO) to assess the effects of the economic crisis on the industry and examine new solutions to overcome serious long term issues such as climate change and poverty.
He said with the crucial UN climate change conference starting in Copenhagen on December 7, the UNWTO Ministers' Summit at World Travel Market is a vital one. "It's a last chance to discuss these critical issues and to help governments prepare to address the pressing challenges of climate change and its disastrous affects on travel and tourism.
"It's no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the industry - and the world - will be waiting with baited breath to see the outcome.
"Failure is not an option but, from all that I have read and know, the outcome at this moment, is far from certain," Fiona said.
According to her, a report commissioned by University College London and the Lancet has concluded that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century and that the poor will be the worst affected, noting that the Maldives and Antarctica are two regions under threat from global warming which could see sea levels rise by a
metre within the next century."International travel and tourism is beginning to take responsibility
and making real efforts to improve its sustainability, not only forour sakes but that of future generations.Paradise countries like the
Maldives could indeed be lost for ever."So, I do hope that the time spent here today at the UNWTO Ministers'
Summit is well spent, because there is little doubt, that time, isrunning out," Jeffery said.
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