The Department of Tourism (DoT) has sounded the call for a collaborative effort to address the issue of climate change and circumvent its adverse effects on the future of Philippine tourism.
“The looming effects of climate change are realities we did not factor in during the previous years. These problems have not been realized by the people. To be able to address these, there is an urgent need to educate the public first to gain their cooperation on how we can solve the problem as a community and as a country,” said Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.
Durano admitted that the country’s world class beaches as well as historical landmarks are in danger of being badly damaged by extreme heat caused by climate change; and the volume of tourist arrivals could possibly drop as climate change starts to drastically affect the country’s coastline.
“As an archipelago, our waters are our competitive advantage as a travel destination. The forecasted climate-change induced rise of water several meters off our coastlines will have most of our resort destinations submerged, thus making this global phenomenon a great concern as well for the local tourism sector,” he added.
In his report during the ‘Eco-Mismo: The Philippine conference on Ecotourism and Eco-Productivity,’ environmentalist Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, also Chief Executive Officer of the World Wildlife Fund Philippines said that worst things are to be expected.
“Climate change will make sea levels rise gradually from four to 12-meters high in the near future,” Tan said.
As a result, coastal communities including a great part of Mactan Island is likely to be under water including tourism facilities such as airports and highways. All of which could be submerged by the year 2047.
Aside from sea levels rising and erasing parts of the island, there is also the side effect of coral bleaching due to the increase in sea surface temperature. There will also be ocean acidification and more intense tropical cyclone due to climate change.
“The objective should be to drum up support for a collaborative effort to address the issue of climate change,” said Durano, adding that a change in the mindset would make communities see the resources around them as something they can use in the long run.
“This could produce a new economy that is more sustainable as compared to the old social and economic structure,” Durano emphasized.
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