Preserving Legacies: A Future for our Past welcomes a new cohort of heritage sites and custodians across the world to work together to ensure their places of cultural significance are protected from climate change impacts and allowing us to continue to learn from our past and inspire our future.
With climate change as their fastest growing threat, not only is their physical integrity at risk of erosion, but so are the values, knowledge and sense of community imbued in these places.

ICOMOS, as a founding signatory, is asking the national governments that are parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement to adopt a ‘Joint Work on Culture and Climate Action’ decision (JWD) at the next UN Climate Change Conference (COP28). Artists and cultural voices from across the world are uniting to call for climate negotiators at COP28 to put cultural heritage, arts and creative industries at the heart of climate action.

The UNESCO World Heritage Centre and the three Advisory Bodies – ICCROM, ICOMOS and IUCN –are developing their first joint toolkit on climate action for World Heritage. Coordinated through the World Heritage Leadership programme, and with the initial support from the Australian Government, the toolkit will support States Parties and site managers to integrate climate change action in the management strategies of World Heritage sites.

The Global Research and Action Agenda on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change, a scientific outcome from a collaboration between ICOMOS, UNESCO and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been released in both English and French. It is to strenghten synergies between culture, heritage and climate change science.