MANILA - President Aquino urged delegates from 32 Asia-Pacific countries to join efforts aimed at lessening the impact of climate change especially on tourist destinations. The President made the pitch before the United Nations World Tourism Organization-ASEAN International Conference on Tourism and Climate Change in Legazpi City, Albay Monday. In his speech, the President stressed the threat of climate change should not be ignored. "Climate change is real. It is a threat not simply to our industries or to our economies; it is a grave threat to all our peoples. The sooner we move on a more united front—and the sooner we agree on a systematic, concerted effort to address the problem—the sooner we can make a more profound impact on changing the effects of climate change," he said in his speech. At the end of the 5-day conference, UN-WTO members are expected to come up with measures to strengthen the tourism's ability to deal with environmental challenges. ANC, May 19, 2014