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Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage

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Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage

A new publication by the World Heritage Centre, entitled Case Studies on Climate Change and World Heritage, highlights the impacts of climate change on 26 natural and cultural World Heritage properties, along with ongoing and planned adaptation and mitigation measures. The publication was prepared with inputs from relevant State Parties and various experts in climate change and heritage conservation.

The issue of climate change and World Heritage was first discussed at the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee in 2005. Noting "that the impacts of Climate Change are affecting many and are likely to affect many more World Heritage properties, both natural and cultural in the years to come," the Committee decided to further investigate the subject. Since then, a Strategy to assist states parties to implement appropriate management responses and a report on Predicting and Managing the Effects of Climate Change on World Heritage have been developed and endorsed by the Committee, and these will be available soon as the World Heritage Paper Number 22.

The purpose of this publication of case studies is to highlight the fact that even well recognized and protected icons of the natural and cultural world are threatened by climate change, and that public awareness and support is crucial for addressing the impacts of climate change on World Heritage.

Although the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and protected areas are relatively better known, very little is known about the impacts on cultural heritage. While varying greatly from site to site, such impacts on cultural heritage include direct physical effects on property, buildings, and structures, and effects on social structures and habitats that could lead to changes in cultural groups, or even the migration of societies currently sustaining the site. Therefore, this publication covers case studies of both natural and cultural heritage.

Some of the highlighted case studies include:

  • Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal) - glacier melting and possible glacial lake outburst floods;
  • Great Barrier Reef (Australia) - coral bleaching and loss of marine biodiversity;
  • Ichkeul National Park (Tunisia) - changes in precipitations, and sea-level rise affecting wetland distribution and functions;
  • Chan Chan Archaeological Zone (Peru) - flooding damage to earthen architecture structures;
  • Timbuktu (Mali) - desertification and sand encroachment.

This publication can be downloaded from the Centre's website and was made possible thanks to the financial contribution of the United Nations Foundation and the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport, United Kingdom.

Contacts

  • Yacoub Raheem (y.raheem@unesco.org)
  • Kishore Rao (k.rao@unesco.org)

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