Our common heritage and climate change

The present and potential future impacts of Climate Change on biodiversity and ecosystems are well studied and documented. Many of the impacts of Climate Change are already being observed, or are expected to occur in the short to medium term, in a number of natural World Heritage sites. Climate change could amplify and accelerate major existing management problems and threats affecting the integrity of these properties: species and habitat change, resource extraction, inefficient site management, invasive species and, in some cases, armed conflicts. In addition a number of natural World Heritage properties show already high natural sensitivity and low capacity to cope with these social and environmental impacts; which increasingly require the use of innovative adaptive management mechanisms.

Similarly, cultural World Heritage sites will be impacted by climate change. Physical deterioration of properties may be caused by change in temperature, humidity, storms, flooding etc. However, the assessment of the impacts of Climate Change on cultural World Heritage must also account for the complex interactions within and between natural, cultural and societal systems.