United Nations Radio

A new United Nations fund to help developing countries cope with climate change threats, could be operational by next year.

The draft deal needs to be approved by ministers attending the UN climate change conference in Bali. The Adaptation Fund has about $36 million dollars in it. But that could rise to as much as $1-$5 billion dollars a year by 2030 according to UN projections.

Meanwhile, some of those developing countries rely on tourism to fuel their economy, but that same tourism contributes to global warming. As UN Radio's Donn Bobb reports from Bali, such is the assessment of the top official at the UN World Tourism Organization:

"Francesco Frangialli says a number of destinations are particularly threatened: small island states, especially in the tropics and coastal areas affected by the rise in both sea levels and water temperatures; areas undergoing desertification and, mountain destinations that depend on snow and glaciers.

'Climate change is calling the tourism world to a revolution, a revolution that is not just economic or technological in nature, but also cultural.

The World Tourism Organization head says tourism, now regarded as a principal category of international trade, generated more than $735 billion dollars last year.'

This is Donn reporting for United Nations Radio, Bali, Indonesia.