Panel of experts in relation to Decision 44 COM 7C concerning Climate Change and World Heritage

The General Assembly,

1. Having examined Documents WHC/23/24.GA/8 and WHC/23/24.GA/INF.8,
2. Recalling Resolution 23 GA 11, adopted at its 23rd session (UNESCO, 2021),
3. Also recalling Decisions 40 COM 7, 41 COM 7, 42 COM 7, 43 COM 7.2, 44 COM 7C and 45 COM 7.1, adopted respectively at the 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017), 42nd (Manama, 2018), 43rd (Baku, 2019), extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) and extended 45th (Riyadh, 2023) sessions of the World Heritage Committee,
4. Thanking H.E. Ms Yvette Sylla (Madagascar) as elected Chairperson of the Open-ended Working Group established by the General Assembly at its 23rd session (UNESCO, 2021), Ms Carolina Diaz Acosta (Colombia) for her remarkable leadership in chairing meetings of the Open-ended Working Group, Australia, Colombia, Lebanon and Poland as Vice-Chairpersons, Ms Barbara Engels (Germany) as Rapporteur, and all members of the Working Group for the work accomplished,
5. Also thanking the States Parties of Australia, Azerbaijan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands for their generous financial support to the updating process of the 2007 “Policy Document on the impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage properties”, and expressing its gratitude to all stakeholders of the World Heritage Convention who contributed to this process,
6. Noting the rich debates that took place during the eight meetings of the Open-ended Working Group established by the General Assembly at its 23rd session (UNESCO, 2021) with the mandate to review and develop its final version taking into account Decision 44 COM 7C, as well as proposals for its effective implementation,
7. Emphasizing that, consistent with Article 18 of the 2017 UNESCO Declaration of Ethical Principles in relation to Climate Change, nothing in this non-binding Policy Document should be understood as an interpretation of any of the principles and provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and of the Paris Agreement adopted under it,
8. Adopts the 2023 “Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”, as recommended by consensus by the Open-ended Working Group and contained in Document WHC/23/24.GA/INF.8;
9. Encourages the States Parties, the World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and World Heritage-related Category 2 Centres to disseminate widely the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” through appropriate means to the World Heritage community and the broader public, including in local languages, and to promote its implementation;
10. Recalls the World Heritage Committee’s requests, regarding the implementation of the Policy Document, addressed to the World Heritage Centre jointly with the Advisory Bodies, and within the available resources, to:
    1. Elaborate proposals for specific changes to the Operational Guidelines necessary to translate the principles of this Policy Document into actual operational procedures, and to develop education and capacity-building initiatives to enable a wide implementation of this Policy Document,
    2. Consider preparing a Guidance Document to facilitate effective implementation of, and support for, the actions, goals and targets of this Policy Document, which could include indicators and benchmarking tools for measuring and reporting progress towards achieving the World Heritage Climate Action Goals,

    provided the above be undertaken in consultation with States Parties;

11. Calls on States Parties to support the above-mentioned activities through extrabudgetary funding;
12. Recommends that States Parties and all stakeholders of the Convention integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation actions in risk preparedness policies and action plans, in order to protect the Outstanding Universal Value of all World Heritage properties, in line with the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”;
13. Also recommends that World Heritage-related Category 2 Centres and UNESCO Chairs prioritize issues related to the implementation of the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” within their capacity-building and research initiatives;
14. Requests the World Heritage Centre to present to the General Assembly, at its 26th session, a report on the progress made in the implementation of the Policy Document and the above provisions.

The General Assembly,

1. Having examined Documents WHC/21/23.GA/11 and WHC/21/23.GA/INF.11,
2. Recalling Decisions 40 COM 7, 41 COM 7, 42 COM 7, 43 COM 7.2 and 44 COM 7C, adopted respectively at the 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017), 42nd (Manama, 2018), 43rd (Baku, 2019) and extended 44th (Fuzhou/online, 2021) sessions of the World Heritage Committee,
3. Thanking the State Party of the Netherlands for having funded the project to update the 2007 Policy Document on the impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage properties, and expressing its gratitude to all stakeholders of the World Heritage Convention who contributed to this process,
4. Noting the debate on this item that took place during the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee (Fuzhou/online, 2021), as well as the comments expressed by the Committee members on this draft through a written consultation process,
5. Noting that the World Heritage Committee has endorsed the draft "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”, as presented in Annex 1 of Document WHC/21/44.COM/7C, at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021), and recommended its review in line with the principles mentioned in paragraph 7 of Decision 44 COM 7C,
6. Takes note of the “Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”, as endorsed by the extended 44th session of the World Heritage Committee, and decides to establish an open-ended working group assisted by the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies, with the mandate to review and develop its final version taking into account Decision 44 COM 7C, as well as proposals for its effective implementation, for consideration by the 24th session of the General Assembly of States Parties;
7. Recommends that the panel of experts as agreed in Decision 44 COM 7C, be convened before March 2022, with a mandate to:
   1. consider revisions to the Policy Document and its unresolved policy matters, and
   2. report to the open-ended working group established in paragraph 6, to inform its consideration of the Policy Document and proposals to implement it;
8. Encourages States Parties to provide extra-budgetary funding for the open-ended working group.

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7C,
2. Recalling Decisions 40 COM 7, 41 COM 7, 42 COM 7 and 43 COM 7.2, adopted at its 40th (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016), 41st (Krakow, 2017), 42nd (Manama, 2018) and 43rd (Baku, 2019) sessions respectively,
3. Takes note with satisfaction of the wide range of climate change-related activities undertaken by the World Heritage Centre, in collaboration with the Advisory Bodies;
4. Thanks the State Party of the Netherlands for having funded the project to update the 2007 Policy Document on the impacts of Climate Change on World Heritage properties, and expresses its gratitude to all the experts and representatives of States Parties, of the World Heritage Centre and of the Advisory Bodies who contributed to the meetings of the Technical Advisory Group;
5. Takes note with appreciation that a wide diversity of stakeholders of the World Heritage Convention (States Parties, site managers, Advisory Bodies, World Heritage Centre and representatives of local communities, indigenous peoples, academics, NGOs and civil society) were able to contribute to the updating process through the online consultation launched by the World Heritage Centre;
6. Takes note of the new title proposed for the updated Policy Document to become “Policy Document for Climate Action for World Heritage”;
7. Endorses the draft "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”, as presented in Annex 1 of Document WHC/21/44.COM/7C, and requests the World Heritage Centre, in consultation with the Advisory Bodies, to revise it by incorporating views expressed and amendments submitted during the extended 44th session and, as appropriate, to consult Committee members, especially concerning the following points:
   1. the fundamental principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC), which is one of the basic pillars of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
   2. the alignment of climate change mitigation actions with the CBDR-RC and the Nationally Determined Contributions accepted under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement, except on an entirely voluntary basis,
   3. the need for support and capacity-building assistance, as well as the encouragement of technology transfer and financing from developed to developing countries;
8. Recalls Decision 41 COM 7 and reiterates the importance of States Parties undertaking the most ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement of the UNFCCC, and strongly invites all States Parties to ratify the Paris Agreement at the earliest possible opportunity and to undertake actions to address Climate Change under the Paris Agreement consistent with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, in light of different national circumstances, that are fully consistent with their obligations within the World Heritage Convention to protect the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of all World Heritage properties;
9. Decides to transmit the draft "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”, following final revisions, for review and adoption at the 23rd session of the General Assembly of States Parties to the Convention in 2021;
10. Also requests the World Heritage Centre, jointly with the Advisory Bodies, once the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” is adopted by the General Assembly of the States Parties and within the available resources, to elaborate proposals for specific changes to the Operational Guidelines that would be required to translate the principles of this Policy Document into actual operational procedures, and to develop education and capacity-building initiatives that would be needed to enable wide implementation of this Policy Document, and calls on States Parties to contribute financially to this end;
11. Further requests the World Heritage Centre, in parallel with the processes outlined in Paragraph 10, to convene a panel of experts drawn from the ad-hoc Working Group, World Heritage Centre, the Advisory Bodies and other qualified experts in the field of climate science and heritage to meet by March 2022 and also calls on State Parties to contribute financially to this end;
12. Requests furthermore the World Heritage Centre, jointly with the Advisory Bodies, and subject to available resources, to consider preparing a Guidance Document to facilitate effective implementation of, and support for, the actions, goals and targets of this Policy Document, which could include indicators and benchmarking tools for measuring and reporting progress towards achieving the World Heritage Climate Action Goals, and further calls on States Parties to support this activity through extrabudgetary funding;
13. Encourages the States Parties, the World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies to disseminate widely the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”, once adopted, through appropriate means to the World Heritage community and the broader public, including in local languages, and to promote its implementation;
14. Recommends that the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” be interpreted in the context of the UNFCCC, the Paris Agreement (2015) and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, and in conjunction with the Policy Document for the integration of a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention (2015);
15. Urges States Parties and all stakeholders of the Convention to urgently integrate climate change mitigation and adaptation actions in risk preparedness policies and action plans, in order to protect the OUV of all World Heritage properties, in line with the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage”;
16. Further recommends that World Heritage-related Category 2 Centres and UNESCO Chairs prioritize issues related to the implementation of the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” within their capacity-building and research initiatives;
17. Finally requests the World Heritage Centre, in consultation with the Advisory Bodies, to present a progress report on the implementation status of the "Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” at its 48th session, after four years of implementation.