BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC):

An international environmentalist is urging the Caribbean to adopt aggressive environmental policies in order to protect itself from the potential impact of climate change on coastal tourism.

But senior research associate for Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Dr Murray C. Simpson, has suggested that decision makers must first get a grasp of the region's vulnerabilities and ability to adapt in order to develop appropriate policies.

Simpson will offer an overview of the implications of global environmental change for Caribbean coastal tourism destinations during a special panel on April 29 at the 10th Annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development to be held in the Turks & Caicos Islands.