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Impacts of climate change on World Heritage : 

Impacts of climate change on World Heritage Working Document: WHC-06/30.COM/7.1

I. Background : 

I. Background Committee Decision of 29th Session (Durban) Working Group of Experts met in UNESCO HQ on 16 – 17 March Thanks to support from UK and UNF 15 States Parties, 7 Conventions & Programmes, 7 NGOs

I. Background: 

I. Background Questionnaire survey results Background documents by ABs & experts Meeting of experts: Reviewed nature & scale of the risks to WH Developed a Strategy to assist States Parties Prepared a Report on Predicting & Managing the Effects of climate change on WH

Main issues: 

Main issues Impacts of climate change are already visible Better studied in relation to natural sites than cultural Difference between mitigation and adaptation UNFCCC & KP are the principal instruments for mitigation Climate change is one among several stress factors Site level adaptation measures are inevitable Address non-climatic stresses to reduce vulnerability & increase resilience of sites Use iconic value for communication & awareness raising

Climate change induced flooding: 

Climate change induced flooding Sea level rise threatens the WH city of Venice

Terrestrial biodiversity: 

Terrestrial biodiversity Cape Floral Region (South Africa)

Marine – coral bleaching: 

Marine – coral bleaching Great Barrier Reef (Australia)

Melting of snowcaps: 

Melting of snowcaps Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)

II. Strategy: 

II. Strategy Proposes 4 categories of actions: Preventive Corrective knowledge sharing Legal issues Actions under each are at 3 levels: Global Regional Country/site level

II. Strategy: 

II. Strategy Preventive actions: Conduct vulnerability assessments Include climate change in monitoring processes Promote site-level mitigation Reduce non-climate stress factors Corrective actions: Include in strategy for reducing risks Integrate climate change in management plans Develop and implement adaptation measures Provide financial & technical assistance

II. Strategy: 

II. Strategy Knowledge sharing: Cooperate with other Conventions & Programs Incorporate into relevant training programs Use pilot project approach Develop & disseminate case studies, lessons learned, and best practices Legal issues: Impact on application of OUV Re-nomination of sites Danger listing

WHC-06/30.COM/7.1: 

WHC-06/30.COM/7.1 Annex 4: Report on “Predicting and managing the effects of climate change on World Heritage” Strategy to be read with Report Point III: Draft decision: 30 COM 7.1