The surface of 70 percent of the beaches in the Caribbean reduces every year due to climate change, putting the region's population and its tourism at risk, warned a United Nations (UN) agency here on Tuesday.

Climate change is a challenge for the Caribbean nations' sustainable development, said the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in a report published during its 36th session, which was attended by 30 ministers and vice ministers of member countries and will be wrapped up in Friday.

Besides its "serious consequences" for the local population, "climate change has also affected marine and land resources that are fundamental to the pillar of the subregion's tourism," said the agency.

The ECLAC said that the subregion is also faced with "high levels" of unemployment, poverty and crime among young people, partly due to a weak growth in recent years.

"The combination of poverty and environmental vulnerability puts in danger a large part of the rural and urban population living in poverty," it added.

The ECLAC also said another development challenge that afflicts the subregion is the "unsustainable" level of debt accumulated by the regional countries, which have been among the most indebted around the globe.

To achieve growth and development in the subregion, the UN commission proposed to create a resilience fund to guarantee the financing of projects for mitigating climate change and reducing debts.