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Thursday, 19 August 2021
The W-Arly-Pendjari Complex (WAP) is a transnational property (about 450 km border) shared by the Republic of Niger, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Benin in West Africa. The Niger part of the property was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996. It will be extended in 2017 to its Benin and Burkina Faso parts. The site is also a transboundary biosphere reserve. In addition to pressures ...
1 min read
Thursday, 19 August 2021
At its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), the World Heritage Committee highlighted that the List of World Heritage in Danger needed to be better understood and therefore decided that this issue be formally addressed in order to overcome the negative perception of this component of the Reactive Monitoring process (Decision 40 COM 7).
As presented to the World Heritage Committee at its ...
1 min read
Thursday, 12 August 2021
Today is International Youth Day, when we focus on the future guardinas of our irreplaceable UNESCO World Heritage.
If heritage is what we leave behind for future generations, we need to work with young people to protect it. This International Youth Day, we wish to highlight the Young Professionals Forum which took place during the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee.
In ...
3 min read
Monday, 9 August 2021
UNESCO and its World Heritage Centre have observed with concern the large number of fires that have struck Greece and other countries in Southern Europeand the Mediterranean in recent weeks.
According to information provided by experts and press reports, firefighters continue to battle major fires in Greece, including one that could impact the World Heritage site “Archaeological Site of ...
2 min read
Monday, 9 August 2021
In the Lakota language of North America, the word “Mitákuye Oyás’iŋ” means “all is related” or “all my relatives” – both human and non-human. In Hawaiian, the phrase “ike loa” means “to see much” and describes a philosophy of lifelong learning to better understand our relationship with the world. And in the nearly extinct Nǀuu language of South Africa, the word “lgqe” refers to the life-force ...
2 min read
Friday, 6 August 2021
UNESCO wishes to express its deep concern about the reports on the expansion of the conflict to the city of Lalibela (Ethiopia), which hosts the Rock-Hewn Churches.
UNESCO calls for the respect of all relevant obligations under international law in ensuring the protection of the Outstanding Universal Value and legacy of this precious site by refraining from any act that may expose it to ...
1 min read
Friday, 6 August 2021
UNESCO Addis Ababa Liaison Office in collaboration with the World Heritage Centre (WHC) and financial support from the People’s Republic of China, organized a Training workshop on “enhancing the implementation capacity of the 1972 World Heritage Convention ” which took place from 3 to 5 August 2021, in Adama Town, Ethiopia. The meeting brought together 43 participants from ministries and ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
In parallel to the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), in close collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF), organised an online side event, “Looking into the future: Highlights of the Regional Action Plan for Africa (2021 – 2027)” on 30 July. The event reflected upon the objectives and challenges foreseen in the ...
2 min read
Friday, 30 July 2021
Last month, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (Belize) appointed its first Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) as part of the global Resilient Reefs Initiative that aims to empower local communities to adapt to a changing climate.
Following in the footsteps of the CROs at the Ningaloo Coast in Australia and the Lagoons of New Caledonia in France, Ms. Kalene Eck, the newly appointed CRO in ...
2 min read
Friday, 30 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed the transnational property of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Western Segment) on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Frontiers of the Roman Empire – The Danube Limes (Western Segment) features components in Austria, Germany, and SlovakiaIt covers almost 600km of the whole Roman Empire’s Danube frontier. The property formed part ...
3 min read
Wednesday, 28 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today added four sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List and one extension to an existing transnational natural site in Europe.
The new cultural sites are located in Italy, Slovenia, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. The natural site inscribed today is Ivindo National Park in Gabon. The World Heritage Committee also approved an extension to the ...
6 min read
Tuesday, 27 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today added 13 cultural sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List and one extension to an existing cultural site in Mexico. Roșia Montană Mining Landscape (Romania), was simultaneously inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger pending the removal of threats to its integrity posed by possible extractive activities.
These additions were made during the ...
13 min read
Monday, 26 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today added seven sites to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Four of the sites have been inscribed for the natural attributed: Amami-Oshima Island, Tokunoshima Island, northern part of Okinawa Island, and Iriomote Island (Japan), Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats (Republic of Korea), Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex (Thailand) and Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands (Georgia). ...
7 min read
Sunday, 25 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China (China), Kakatiya Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple, Telangana (India), Trans-Iranian Railway (Iran), and Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences (Spain), on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 44th session held online and chaired from Fuzhou (China).
China, Quanzhou: ...
4 min read
Saturday, 24 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee today inscribed five cultural sites, including one transnational property, in Saudi Arabia, Austria, Belgium, Czechia, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on UNESCO’s World Heritage List during its 44th session held online and chaired from Fuzhou (China).
The following sites were inscribed today:
Saudi Arabia, Ḥimā ...
5 min read
Thursday, 22 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee, during its Extended 44th session, has officially taken note of the 10th Anniversary of the adoption of the World Heritage Capacity-Building Strategy (2011 - 2021).
To mark this celebration, the World Heritage Centre is pleased to announce that a dedicated capacity building webpage has been made available to centralize all on-going and future capacity building ...
Wednesday, 21 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee, holding its 44th session in Fuzhou and online, decided to delete the property “Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City” (UK) from the World Heritage List, due to the irreversible loss of attributes conveying the outstanding universal value of the property.
Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004 and on the List of World ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee, meeting online since 16th of July, today decided to remove Salonga National Park (Democratic Republic of the Congo) from the List of World Heritage in Danger due to improvements in its state of conservation.
The Committee welcomed the clarification provided by the national authorities that the oil concessions overlapping with the property are nul and void and ...
1 min read
Sunday, 18 July 2021
The master's programme in World Heritage Studies (WHS) at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, Germany now opens its doors towards a full online study experience.
The World Heritage Studies programme began in 1999 and its graduates from more than two decades have established a strong alumni network of professionals in the World Heritage field. Starting from October 2021, the programme offers a new study ...
3 min read
Friday, 16 July 2021
The World Heritage Committee’s 44th session opened today in Fuzhou (China) at the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Center, and continues online until 31 July. During the session, the 21-member Committee will notably examine the state of conservation of 255 sites already inscribed on the World Heritage List, 53 of which also figure on the List of World Heritage in Danger.
In her opening ...
2 min read
Saturday, 10 July 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is receiving a high number of e-mails expressing great concern for the possible extinction, in the near future, of the vaquita, a critically endangered porpoise endemic to the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California (Mexico).
Inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2005, the property of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of ...
2 min read
Thursday, 8 July 2021
In the framework of the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, the Rwandan National Commission for UNESCO organized in Huyé from 9 to 11 June 2021, with the technical and financial support of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, a national technical consultation to raise awareness on the importance of this Convention and to elaborate a roadmap for the preparation of the nomination file ...
2 min read
Thursday, 8 July 2021
This year’s Forum is being held online with nearly 100 World Heritage Site Managers from around the world from 7 to 13 July, together with the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Advisory Bodies (ICCROM, IUCN and ICOMOS), heritage experts and representatives of various Chinese heritage institutions.
H.E. Mr. Tian Xuejun, Chairperson of the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 7 July 2021
A technical workshop was organized to strengthen capacities of stakeholders in identifying and evaluating the impact that new projects may pose on the Outstanding Universal Value of World Heritage sites, in addition to the elaboration of the necessary mitigation measures.
The online workshop was held in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt, and brought together ...
1 min read
Monday, 5 July 2021
Vaquita are one of the world’s most threatened mammals, with less than ten individuals thought to remain. These all exist in a small area of the Islands and Protected Areas of the Gulf of California UNESCO World Heritage site in Mexico, where entanglement in illegal fishing nets threatens their survival. The site was for this reason inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2019. ...
1 min read
Thursday, 1 July 2021
The 10th Anniversary of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) took place online through a launch event for the UNESCO HUL Call for Action and a global conference on the application of the HUL Recommendation to World Heritage cities.
The online events, consisting of several meetings and workshops, took place between 16 and 24 June 2021, marking ...
2 min read
Monday, 28 June 2021
On 21 June 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) and the École du Patrimoine Africain (EPA) brought together Ambassadors, site managers, and African heritage experts for the online launching of the project for the Capacity-building in risk ...
2 min read
Friday, 25 June 2021
Following the first meeting held on 1 April 2021, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre organized an online technical meeting on 11 June to support the process of drafting the Desired state of conservation for removal (DSCOR) of Leptis Magna from the List of World Heritage in Danger, and the needed corrective measures.
The online meeting brought together representatives of Libyan authorities, ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 23 June 2021
On 8 June 2021, UNESCO, the Ghana Museums and Monuments Boards (GMMB), and the Netherlands represented by the Dutch Ambassador, H.E. Mr. Ron Strikker, inaugurated the Ussher Fort Slave Museum and Documentary Centre in Accra, after two years of rehabilitation work.
Ussher Fort, formerly called Fort Crèvecœur, is one of 28 components of the serial World Heritage property Forts and Castles, ...
3 min read
Friday, 18 June 2021
The World Heritage Committee’s 44th session will be chaired from Fuzhou (China) and take place online from 16 to 31 July, combining current work and issues left outstanding since last year, when the annual meeting was postponed due to COVID-19. The extended session will be chaired by Tian Xuejun, China’s Vice Minister for Education and Director of China’s National Commission for ...
4 min read
Friday, 18 June 2021
COVID-19 has impacted all sectors and all regions, and the world’s over 1,000 UNESCO World Heritage properties are no exception.
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on World Heritage one year after the start of the pandemic, UNESCO launched a far-reaching survey of site managers and national authorities and have published the results in the report ‘World Heritage in the face of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 16 June 2021
Following the launch of the first regional competition for Eastern Africa entitled: “Mobilizing Youth Engagement in the Celebration of African World Heritage Day - 5th May 2021,” six (6) proposals from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda were selected as finalists and will receive 5000 USD grants to raise awareness and engagement of youth for the protection and promotion of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 16 June 2021
On 20 May 2021, invasive species experts and local management teams from the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites met online to share lessons learned in the prevention and eradication of invasive species.
According to the 2020 IUCN World Heritage Outlook, 75 percent of the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are threatened by invasive species. When species are introduced to marine ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Following the official launch of the project “ Supporting capacity-building of World Heritage sites in East Africa (Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, United Republic of Tanzania)” supported by the Sultanate of Oman, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (WHC) organized the first consultation meetings with concerned national institutions and partners of the five beneficiary countries, from 27 ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 8 June 2021
World Oceans Day
How Marine World Heritage builds resilience for people and nature
Spread across 37 nations from the tropics to the poles, the 50 UNESCO marine World Heritage sites are among the ocean’s most productive waters. Their abundance of marine life is vital to sustain the livelihoods of indigenous communities, local businesses and artists alike.
This year’s United ...
2 min read
Friday, 4 June 2021
This year’s World Environment Day will launch and focus on the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is a global rallying cry to heal our planet.
Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet - and its people. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
The German Commission for UNESCO herewith invites UNESCO World Heritage sites and UNESCO Biosphere Reserves in Africa to submit proposals for projects that help them to overcome an existing impairment caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Up to 20,000 Euro financial support will be provided to selected projects.
By providing financial and technical support to UNESCO World Heritage sites and ...
7 min read
Wednesday, 2 June 2021
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released the first set of data for Indicator 11.4.1 related to culture for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Agenda 2030. The results and analysis are available in a new report, Tracking Investment to Safeguard the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Indicator 11.4.1 is defined as “total per capita expenditure on the preservation, ...
3 min read
Monday, 31 May 2021
UNESCO is now compensating for all greenhouse gas emissions caused by in-house and outsourced printing services at Headquarters (HQ). To make our print publications ‘carbon neutral’, UNESCO has chosen to support the development of a small scale hydropower project near Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
While UNESCO is striving to reduce ...
3 min read
Friday, 21 May 2021
International Day for Biological Diversity 2021 is being celebrated under the slogan: "We're part of the solution #ForNature".
This theme was chosen to be a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the over-arching theme, “Our solutions are in nature”, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From ...
2 min read
Friday, 21 May 2021
This unique fund brings together public and private donors for a common goal: better protection of nature in order to safeguard some of the most important areas on earth, including natural World Heritage sites.
The Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF) aims to address one of the main bottlenecks for the conservation of globally significant protected areas located in the developing world: the lack of ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 12 May 2021
World Heritage Young Professionals Fora are among the flagship activities of the World Heritage Education Programme, serving as a platform for bringing young professionals and heritage experts together to foster intercultural learning and exchange, to debate about common concerns and to discover new roles for themselves in heritage conservation.
As an integral part of the extended 44th ...
1 min read
Saturday, 8 May 2021
The theme for this World Migratory Bird Day is Sing, Fly, Soar – Like a bird!
At the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, we support natural sites around the world in their conservation efforts, which in turn supports animals in maintaining their natural behaviors in healthy habitats.
Bird song is not only enjoyable to listen to, but scientists and site managers can use it to evaluate the health ...
2 min read
Thursday, 6 May 2021
To celebrate the sixth edition of African World Heritage Day, on the 5th of May, UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) in collaboration with the African World Heritage Fund (AWHF) hosted a webinar under the African Union's (AU) theme for 2021: "Arts, culture and heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want".
The Director of the WHC, Ms Mechtild Rössler, inaugurated the event with an ...
3 min read
Thursday, 6 May 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre is pleased to congratulate one of this year's Frankfurt Conservation Award (Bruno H. Schubert Prize) winners, the highest endowed private environmental prize in Germany - Julia Miranda Londoño, WCPA Deputy Chair and former Director of the Colombian National Parks Authority.
All four winners of the Award have all contributed in their own way to keeping the ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 5 May 2021
African World Heritage Day
May 5th 2021
“Arts, Culture and Heritage: Levers for Building the Africa We Want”.
Since the proclamation of African World Heritage Day in 2015 by the 38th session of the General Conference of UNESCO, every 5 May, African cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage is celebrated across the globe, raising awareness of the benefits of its ...
4 min read
Thursday, 29 April 2021
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay has condemned the armed attack on an anti-poaching patrol that claimed three civilian lives, including those of Spanish journalists Roberto Fraile and David Beriain, in the Arly National Park – a UNESCO biosphere reserve and World Heritage site – in the east of Burkina Faso on 27 April.
“I condemn the murders of Spanish journalists David Beriain and ...
1 min read
Friday, 23 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre expresses its heartfelt sympathy after the fire that, on the morning of 18 April 2021, broke out on the edge of Cape Floral Regional Protected Areas (South Africa), a property inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2004.
UNESCO is in contact with the relevant national authorities who will assess the damage and impact of the fires which gutted the Jagger ...
1 min read
Thursday, 22 April 2021
The future of the world's ecological and human systems is deeply interconnected. Protecting nature means protecting people. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic seriously impacted local conservation budgets and shifted priorities across many marine World Heritage sites. The World Heritage Marine Programme's 2020-2021 Annual Overview provides insights about the challenges and successes across the ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 21 April 2021
Earth Day is an annual event held on 22 April to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on 22 April 1970, the history of the Day traces back to UNESCO.
In 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco, peace activist John McConnell proposed a day to honor the Earth and the concept of peace, to first be observed on 21 March 1970, the first day of spring in the northern ...
3 min read
Tuesday, 20 April 2021
Call for participants: do you work with heritage places?
ICCROM is seeking 20 participants to take part in an Asian regional course on Promoting People-Centred Approaches to Conservation of Nature and Culture. This online course is open to:
Heritage practitioners from the cultural and natural heritage sectors and other individuals working at a specific heritage place.
Individuals ...
1 min read
Monday, 19 April 2021
The UNESCO World Heritage Centre would like to express its sadness at the death of Prof Giorgio Croci, a structural engineer who made an indelible contribution to the support of several iconic World Heritage sites, including Angkor in Cambodia, the Colosseum in Rome and Ethiopia’s Axum Obelisk.
Dr Croci studied civil engineering at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, and became a full ...
2 min read
Friday, 16 April 2021
In 1982, UNESCO’s General Conference established 18 April as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, in many countries also celebrated as World Heritage Day. The day is promoted by ICOMOS globally, and the theme for 2021 is “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”.
The history of a place can involve many points of view. The conservation of cultural heritage requires careful examination of the ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on cities and communities has been immense and has deepened structural inequalities, highlighting delocalised and unsustainable production and consumption models, as pointed out by the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) Decalogue.
The Towards a Future Tourism Strategy: Economic Recovery Tool for a Sustainable World Beyond the Pandemic meeting aimed to ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 13 April 2021
UNESCO welcomes young heritage professionals, students and heritage enthusiasts across Europe and beyond, to join the upcoming open Webinar on European Youth and Heritage being held on 23 April 2021 from 14:00 to 15:30 CET, and discover a thriving network of Cultural Heritage Messengers.
Webinar:European Youth And Heritage
23 April 2021, 14:00 to 15:30 CET
Online ...
1 min read
Friday, 9 April 2021
The Director of UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre will be chairing one of the events of the G20 Culture Webinars “Addressing the climate crisis through culture”, session II on “Strategies and Actions for Increased resilience of Cultural Heritage” will take place on 12 April 2021, 13h20 to 14h25. The event will be accessible via livestream through the YouTube channel of the Italian Ministry of ...
1 min read
Thursday, 8 April 2021
Nominations are now open. Deadline for submission: 31 May 2021
The Prize rewards outstanding actions to safeguard and enhance the world’s outstanding cultural landscapes which contribute directly and significantly to the goals set out in the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Prize winner, who may be an individual, an institution or a non-governmental organization, ...
1 min read
Tuesday, 6 April 2021
UNESCO welcomes the Italian government's decision to ban large cruise ships from the Venice Lagoon. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee urged Italy in 2014 to ban large ships and oil tankers from entering the Venice Lagoon. Sometimes weighing up to 40,000 tonnes, they undermine the Venice lagoon and its ecological balance. The decree-law announced by the Italian Government is a very positive ...
1 min read
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
On 26 March 2021, the Ambassadors of the Sultanate of Oman, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, United Republic of Tanzania and representative from Somalia joined the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to launch the three-year project entitled: “Supporting capacity-building of World Heritage sites in East Africa” financed by the Sultanate of Oman.
In her welcoming remarks, Ms Mechtild Rössler, Director ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 31 March 2021
In 2020 many natural World Heritage sites and other important sites faced serious challenges and emergencies such as threats related to COVID-19, poaching spikes, conflicts, and unprecedent climate-related disasters (e.g. cyclones, wildfires, …). Precious time is often lost in organizing an intervention, while during this time, the world's natural heritage can be irreparably damaged.
The ...
2 min read
Tuesday, 30 March 2021
Almost a decade after the destruction of the mausoleums at Timbuktu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has awarded a symbolic one euro to the Government of Mali and UNESCO for the damage suffered by the Malian people and the international community as a whole as a result of the destruction of Timbuktu’s cultural property in 2012.
This gesture follows the ...
2 min read
Thursday, 25 March 2021
The World Heritage Cities Programme is calling for case studies of Innovative Actions implementing the approach of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) , integrating heritage conservation with sustainable urban development, in World Heritage cities. The selected case studies will be presented during the conference that will take place online ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
In the context of the 10th anniversary of the 2011 UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL Recommendation) and as part of the activities organised for the Metropolitan Plan for Prague, the City of Prague that includes the World Heritage property of the Historic Centre of Prague, hosted on March 24 the conference Integrating Urban Heritage in Urban Planning Processes, in ...
2 min read
Wednesday, 24 March 2021
On 17 March 2021, the Director-General of UNESCO received, via the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to UNESCO, a letter from Mr KIM Hyun-mo, Administrator of the Cultural Heritage Administration of the Republic of Korea, announcing the creation of a new Framework Agreement to support extra-budgetary projects related to World Heritage in the Asia and the Pacific region.
UNESCO ...
2 min read
Monday, 22 March 2021
We are pleased to present the visual identity of the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 Campaign.
The World Heritage Volunteers Initiative launched a Banner and T-Shirt design competition in 2020 for the World Heritage Volunteers 2020-2021 campaign, with the aim to have a global shared identity for the campaign, while celebrating the creativity of the participating organizations that enable ...
2 min read
Friday, 19 March 2021
The call for applications for the 3rd Edition of the Mediterranean Climate Change Adaptation Awards is now open until 15 April 2021.
This call was launched by the French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME), in partnership with the Union for the Mediterranean and UNEP MAP Plan Bleu, in the frame of the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Climate Agreement last 20th January. The award ceremony ...
