Minister denies tourism had significant impact on climate change

Denpasar, Bali (ANTARA News) - Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik has categorically refuted allegations that the tourism industry has had a significant impact on climate change.

"People traveling from one place to another or from one country to another do not spread a great amount of carbon," he said here on Monday after opening a seminar on the impact of climate change on Indonesian tourism.

The event was jointly organized by the Indonesian Culture and Tourism Ministry and the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on the occasion of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Jero Wacik, accompanied by UNWTO Secretary General Prof Geoffrey Lipman, said the tourism industry has in fact contributed to the economy. Therefore, allegations that the tourism industry has had an impact on climate change must be denied.

It was large-scale industries which had had the greatest impact on climate change, followed by forest fires, he said.

He admitted that the tourism industry had had an impact on climate change but its contribution was less than 7 percent.

The one-day seminar also featured UNWTO Secretary General Prof Geoffrey Lipman, former culture and tourism minister I Gde Ardika, and experts from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Victoria University in Australia.

The seminar was held to inform the public of the efforts made by tourism operators at national and international levels to address climate change.