ICOMOS welcomes the G20 Culture Ministers Final Declaration
The ICOMOS President Teresa Patrício attended the meeting of G20 Culture Ministers in Rome on July 29 and 30 July 2021. Her intervention focussed on ensuring that culture and heritage are counted in when tackling climate change – as they are both at risk from its impacts and part of the solution.
Your leadership in establishing climate action as a priority theme in your ministries and supporting a focus on climate among the culture and heritage operators in your countries will be crucial.
ICOMOS thanks the Italian Presidency of the G20 for the opportunity to actively participate in the preparatory work for this meeting and the drafting of the Final Declaration that was adopted by the G20 Culture Ministers at its close.
ICOMOS strongly agrees with the basic premise set out in the Declaration that cultural heritage is both impacted by climate change but also offers great potential to drive climate action and sustainable development and contribute meaningfully to climate solutions. We embrace the challenge given by the Ministers to enshrine climate action more firmly within cultural policies, and we applaud the ministers for their commitment to strive to upscale cultural dimensions into climate change policies and mainstream cultural considerations into the global climate agenda, as well as to facilitate targeted research and increased scientific cooperation on the reciprocal effects of climate change and culture.
We also welcome the specific actions recognised in the Declaration, including using the opportunity presented by the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, and the Pre-COP 26 to be held in Glasgow (UK) and Milan (IT) respectively to raise awareness of the links between climate change and cultural heritage and cultural diversity; and inviting Parties to the Paris Agreement to consider including culture and cultural heritage in their Adaptation Communications. The Climate Heritage Network, of which ICOMOS is a founding member, is working to mobilise broad-based support for these actions and we stand ready to work with all G20 nations to take them forward.
ICOMOS thanks its team of members who, under the coordination of Adriana Careaga, ICOMOS Board member, contributed to inputting in the consultation processes preparing the Ministerial meeting and Final Statement, and the development of the 3 thematic webinars on Illicit Trafficking, Climate Change and Training and Education livecast in the run up to the Ministerial meetings:
- Anas Al Khabour (ICAHM – ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage
Management) - James Reap (ICLAFI – ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Legal, Administrative and
Financial Issues) - Cristina Gonzalez Longo (CIF – ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Training)
- Andrew Potts (CCH WG – ICOMOS Working Group on Climate Change and Heritage/CHN)