The impact of climate change on global economies makes it imperative that the Caribbean region begins to recognize threats on the tourism industry, as well as the standard of life. This was  the focus of a workshop in New Providence yesterday in a Sustainable tourism and disaster risk management meeting in the Caribbean.

  The opening address came  from Tourism Director General, Joy Jibrilu, who underscored the vulnerability of small islands.

Participants heard how the recent impact of climate change on global economies makes it imperative that the region begins to recognize threats on the tourism industry, as well as the standard of life.

“While climate change impacts the development of all nations, notwithstanding size of economy or location, Small Island nations are more vulnerable than any group of nations worldwide to the ravaging impact of climate change,”  said Ms. Jibrilu. 

“Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are more susceptible to the likes of sea level rise, coastal erosion and storm surges due to the fact that some one third of our population reside on land that is less than five meters below sea level.”

The director general added that with increased average temperatures, droughts, flooding due to frequent and severe weather events and rising sea levels, SIDS will be increasingly challenged with vector and waterborne diseases like dengue, diarrheal disease and malaria, all of which threaten the health of visitors and residents.

“Such outbreaks can have negative impacts on our human resource impacting the quality of service of our visitors and local clients alike,” she added.

“Meanwhile, the onset of droughts will not only impact our access to clean and healthy supply of water and sanitation, but also poses a challenge to our food security.”

The impacts of climate change can be monumental to SIDS resulting in environmental, social and economic consequences to inhabitants such as water resources, agriculture and food security, human health and coastal assets.