UNESCO

UNESCO World Heritage
sites as global observatories
On 5 December, the UNESCO Pavilion hosted an event on the theme of
‘UNESCO Sites, A Climate Change Observatory’. The aim was to explore
how the UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves
and Global Geoparks can serve as world field observatories. These
are special places where climate knowledge can be gathered and
solutions found to address the impacts of climate change on human
societies and cultural diversity, biodiversity and ecosystem services,
and the world’s natural and cultural heritage. Practitioners from
UNESCO sites, researchers, experts and policy-makers shared their
experiences through interviews and round-table discussions.
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Issue no. 77 of the UNESCO World
Heritage Review, published in October
2015, explains how today, as the planet
finds itself confronted with the impact
of climate change, the existence of the
World Heritage network is proving to be
of the highest importance in monitoring
changing conditions and advancing
solutions on the ground.