For almost 50 years, Unesco’s 1972 world heritage convention (WHC) has been the foremost global instrument for the protection of humanity’s natural and cultural heritage. In 1977 the World Heritage List was created, which inscribes recognised sites of cultural and natural outstanding universal value around the world.
As of May 2020, 167 countries have signed the convention. There are 1,121 World Heritage sites on the list, including 869 cultural heritage sites, 213 natural heritage sites and 39 mixed sites with both cultural and natural elements. World Heritage sites range from underwater heritage to polar heritage, from individual buildings to entire cities, from vast ecosystems to modernist architecture and from religious properties to those of secular importance.
While these sites may vary significantly, many are affected by expanding biodiversity loss and the impacts of climate change. With global warming likely to reach 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels by 2040, the effects of climate change have already raised sea levels, melted ice caps in the Arctic Ocean and increased risks of disasters such as floods or fires. All of these have the potential to directly affect, and possibly destroy, the world’s collective heritage. In our current political and social climate, the need to protect these sites of global importance has come to the forefront.
The International Council on Monuments and Sites is an advisory body to the World Heritage Committee and is tasked with mobilising cultural world heritage for climate action. Dr Will Megarry of Queen’s University Belfast is a member of its Climate Change and Heritage Working Group and has seen climate change impacts across numerous heritage sites, from Edinburgh Castle to Rapa Nui on Easter Island.
Traditional and indigenous knowledges and practices that contribute to site sustainability and climate change adaptation are often learned onsite and passed from generation to generation. This expertise is important for site management strategies including research and monitoring. An informative case is Pimachiowin Aki in Canada, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2018. It is Canada’s only mixed site, valued for both cultural and natural heritage.
While the World Heritage Convention offers a global instrument for conserving humanity’s heritage, climate change will continue to impact sites, creating risks and issues for conservation. Ultimately, governmental action in implementing the 2015 Paris climate-change agreement needs to be matched with responsible individual choice, identified by Dr Will Megarry as a vital element of climate action.
Source: Irish Times
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