WEBINAR: World Heritage & Tourism in Changing Climate

The webinar addresses the issue of the climate change and the tourism activities in the context of the World Heritage Sites.

DATE: 26 May 2016

TIME: 14.00 - 15.00 CEST

RECORDING: You can access the webinar here.

The present webinar addresses the issue of the climate change and the tourism activities impacts of the World Heritage Sites. The overriding concern is preserving Outstanding Universal Value – that is, heritage that is exceptional from an artistic, historic or typological standpoint, and which merits preservation for the benefit of mankind.

The report 'Destinations at risk, World Heritage & Tourism in a Changing Climate' provides an overview of the increasing vulnerability of World Heritage sites to climate change impacts and the potential implications for and of global tourism. The report stresses the importance of sound site management practices.

Among other topics, the report addresses:

impacts of climate change on iconic tourism destinations
how climate change can exacerbate tourism impacts
management practices that need to be put in place

The report’s goal is to provide up-to-date information and a basis for action on climate change, tourism and World Heritage in the follow-up to the adoption of the Paris Agreement by the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2015 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in October 2015. Using a series of case studies from World Heritage sites around the world, many of them iconic tourist destinations, the report shows how climate driven changes currently, or could in the future, threaten their outstanding universal value (OUV), integrity and authenticity, as well as the economies and communities that depend on tourism.

The objectives of the present webinar are to:

Present the recommendations of a joint UNESCO/UNEP/Union of Concerned Scientists report 'Destinations at risk, World Heritage & Tourism in a Changing Climate', published on May 26th, 2016.
Highlight some of case studies that demonstrate the need for the tourism industries and stakeholders to mitigate tourism impacts on the World Heritage Sites in these times of Climate Change.

Sustainable Tourism Programme

The One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme has the overall objective to enhance the sustainable development impacts of the tourism sector by 2030, by developing, promoting and scaling up sustainable consumption and production practices that boost the efficient use of natural resources while producing less waste and addressing the challenges of climate change and biodiversity.

Read more about the One Planet network Sustainable Tourism Programme: https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/sustainable-tourism

Published on May 26, 2016