Cultural Heritage and Climate Action
In the summer of 2019 the Climate Change and Heritage Working Group of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) released The Future of Our Pasts: Engaging cultural heritage in climate action. ICOMOS, a non-governmental international organization, is a leader in protecting monuments and sites making their recognition of the impact of climate change significant in the fight to mitigate the negative impacts of global warming. The paper recognized “the immense and untapped potential for mobilization of society through active engagement of local communities and visitors of cultural heritage sites.” The document is broken into four sections— ambitions, adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage. The most significant contribution of the document is a table identifying six categories of cultural heritage (movable heritage, archaeological resources, buildings and structures, cultural landscapes, associated and traditional communities, and intangible heritage), a variety of climate change factors, and the impacts each factor has on the six categories of cultural heritage. Readers can narrow into their specific heritage type, the climate change factors they’re experiencing in their region, and review impacts to track and begin to plan their mitigation strategy.
What is clear from the paper is that partnerships and information exchange will be imperative to making significant contributions to stemming the impacts of climate change. Across all four sections of the document, working across geographic boundaries, institutional boundaries, and areas of expertise are important. An example of the need to share best practices was the fact that one region today may have a climate very similar to another region in 10 years. The region with the new climate can learn how to adapt and develop in a sustainable manner by looking to the places that have experienced that climate for centuries. Partnerships and information exchange however go beyond just the cultural heritage community and will be important across the board to keep global warming to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The ways in which cultural heritage can contribute to the progress we make varies, but includes both physical adaptations and mindset changes. Culture influences our decisions and can be used to promote actions that support resilience and sustainability. The field is experienced in rallying supporters to preserve culture through physical sites and can apply these skills to educating and promoting the needed climate related changes to preserve our cultural identities. Many communities are at risk of losing their physical homes as rising sea levels take their land or losing their way of life as changing climates alter the ability to grow certain crops.
“Adaptation action should be based on and guided by the best available science and, as appropriate, traditional knowledge, knowledge of indigenous peoples and local knowledge systems ”
Physical adaptations at World Heritage Sites can become case studies for other organizations to learn from and alter to fit their specific needs. Physical adaptations can include retrofitting historic buildings for energy efficient operations and modifications to withstand more frequent storms and flooding. These sites should serve as incubators for sustainable changes to historic sites that lessen their impact on the environment. Measuring and tracking data is important at these locations to show the contribution cultural heritage can have in reaching the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement. These sites can integrate past adaptation and mitigation techniques that have been overlooked since the industrial revolution provided alternatives that reduced the time and energy for just about every aspect of daily life. Interpretation of cultural heritage sites can be inspirational evidence that for century’s humans have adapted to changes and transformed to survive. Despite how challenging a 2050 net zero emissions goal may seem, we have adapted in the past and have another 30 years to adapt to our current situation.
We won’t be able to save all heritage sites and some may face maladaptations, but with the right engagement of the public, survey and inventory to prioritize sites, and review of data the most important representations of our collective history will be protected. What is important to remember is the potential for cultural heritage to contribute to lessening our impact on the environment and to serve as examples of sustainable construction methods dating hundreds of years back. The most sustainable building is already standing; we just need make sure we bring them into the approach to dealing with climate change.
