The IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a few days ago a new part of its report for 2022, stating that humans and nature are being pushed beyond their abilities to adapt.

As if CoViD-19 and war criminals on the rampage are not enough to darken the mood, IPCC reminds us that over 40% of the world’s population are “highly vulnerable” to climate, the sombre study finds.

According to the BBC, Prof Debra Roberts, co-chair of the IPCC said: “Our report clearly indicates that places, where people live and work, may cease to exist, that ecosystems and species that we’ve all grown up with and that are central to our cultures and inform our languages may disappear.” 

The report shows that extreme weather events linked to climate change like floods and heatwaves are hitting humans and other species much harder than previous assessments indicated. While everyone is affected, the level of suffering depends very much on where you live.

In especially vulnerable regions the number of people dying from floods, droughts and storms increased 15 times in the previous decade. According to the report, the current rise in global temperatures stands at 1.1 C. If temperatures rise to between 1.7 and 1.8 C above the 1850s level, half the human population could be exposed to periods of life-threatening climatic conditions arising from heat and humidity.

It can therefore only be seen as timely that last week also saw the opening of the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Center (GTRCMC), which will be situated at the Middle East University in Amman, the capital of Jordan. The third GTRCMC after the start of similar institutions in Jamaica and Kenya has been named the Dr. Taleb Rifai Center.

Dr. Taleb Rifai is not only a former minister of tourism for Jordan, and a two-term Secretary-General for the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), he is also the Secretary-General of WTFI World Tourism Forum Institute, in which your humble editor acts as the Founding Dean of the HATT BSI.

Professor Salam Almahadin, President of the MEU, remarked that “this centre comes on the heels of a global pandemic which has forced us to reassess how we respond to the crisis. Our efforts are critical to the work of recovery.” At that time it was not clear yet that next to the crises which need to be managed, next to climate change and the pandemic there will also be a major crisis based on the Putin War against peaceful Ukraine. 

Resilience and Crisis Management is what the global tourism industry needs now more than ever. Resilience, as the citizens of Ukraine have shown so heroically, can prove that in today’s world old ways are no longer working, including the idea of winning wars 2022 fighting with T-72s against a defender armed with drones and a population armed with smartphones and courage. Crisis Management, the lack of which became so apparent in the last two years as well as in the last few days, is equally important, being it to tackle a pandemic, the fallout of an invasion and the future of tourism.

If you can read this text, the annihilation of mankind did not – yet – take place. Let’s hope it stays that way and that we will soon live in a post-pandemic and post-Putin era.

If you want to help Ukrainians, you can find information about different NGOs on: www.today.com

As always, all best wishes from Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Arlt and the whole COTRI WEEKLY team!

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