Climate crisis threatens culture: experts call for urgent measures!

Climate crisis threatens culture: experts call for urgent measures!

The climate crisis is one of the central challenges of the 21st century, which has not only ecological but also cultural dimensions. World heritage management institutions and heritage conservation experts are faced with the urgent task of dealing with the effects of climate change on cultural and natural heritage sites worldwide. According to the University of Heidelberg describes Heidelberg University a conference at which the need for interdisciplinary exchange and scientific reflection through cultural studies is highlighted. Prof. Dr. Thomas Schmitt from HCCH underlines the importance of this reflection in order to adequately meet the challenges of the climate crisis.

At the same conference, Marie Baudis from ICOMOS Germany highlighted the alarming threat that climate change poses to cultural heritage. The protection and adaptation of World Heritage sites is crucial to preserving cultural diversity and historical awareness. In this context, the German translation of the “Policy Paper on Climate Action for World Heritage”, which was adopted by the UNESCO General Assembly in 2023, was presented. The document serves as a framework for action for actors committed to preserving world heritage in the context of climate change.

Approaches for action and challenges

The policy paper contains concrete options for action and calls for climate protection to be more firmly anchored in monument preservation. Dr. Mechtild Rössler and Friederike Hansell presented the paper. There were also two round table discussions in which experts discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the UNESCO policy paper and its feasibility. The aim of these discussions is to discuss the opportunities and limits of world heritage protection in the context of the climate crisis.

The international community continues to confront the complexities of the relationship between the World Heritage Convention and global climate change instruments, such as the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement. A contribution from Cambridge University Press highlights that the World Heritage Convention is being used as a legal tool to mobilize climate action, although the practical implementation of these commitments often remains inadequate. National interests often conflict with the necessary measures to protect cultural heritage.

A chronic challenge also emerges in the need to extrapolate climate protection measures at the location level. From 2004 to 2006, petitions were submitted by 37 NGOs listing climate change as a major threat to several sites. UNESCO responded by forming a working group to address these threats, with a focus on adaptation measures rather than large-scale mitigation efforts.

Interdisciplinary exchange and future perspectives

In an effort to protect cultural heritage against the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, cultural heritage and climate science institutions have formulated a joint position paper. The implementation of the climate goals has so far been assessed as inadequate. Studies show massive impacts of climate change on cultural heritage, including warmer summers in Central Europe and increasing extreme weather events. ICOMOS Germany, together with several other organizations, examined the challenges in monument preservation between November 2022 and May 2023 and published a position paper on these topics.

The position paper aims to promote global discourse on cultural heritage and climate science and commits the signatories to strengthening the influence of climate change on cultural heritage in their work. Areas of action include the use of knowledge systems, the empowerment of cultural heritage actors and the interdisciplinary exchange between practice and politics, as well as the financing of climate impacts. Visible impacts of climate change on cultural heritage require immediate action by the relevant institutions.

Advancing climate change makes it essential that all states take shared responsibility for protecting world heritage. Only through comprehensive strategies and cooperation on a global level can cultural heritage be preserved for future generations. Time is running out and the pressure on economic and political decision-makers is growing.