Each 1°C of warming avoided could sharply cut disruption risks at heritage sites: UNESCO

ISLAMABAD: A new Unesco assessment covering all of its designated World Heritage sites, Biosphere Reserves and Global Geoparks says that avoiding every 1°C of global warming could reduce by half the number of sites facing major disruption by the end of the century.

In the assessment, titled People and nature in Unesco-designated sites: Global and local contributions, Unesco said that if action is delayed, pressures on these areas will intensify and natural systems in more than one in four sites could approach critical tipping points by 2050. It warned that such a development could weaken ecosystems as well as the communities that rely on them.

Stronger integrated management, restoration efforts, inclusive governance and targeted policy measures, along with greater investment, are necessary to maintain and expand approaches that have already shown results and to improve resilience.

According to the assessment, protecting the future of Unesco-designated sites will require funding that matches their global importance. Many sites are operating with limited financial and technical resources even as stewardship demands continue to grow, including climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration, monitoring, education and community engagement. In many parts of the world, available funding is fragmented, short-term or inadequate for building long-term resilience.

Unesco recommended making it a priority to deepen understanding of how resilience is developed and maintained across these sites. Stronger exchanges among sites and across different designations could help identify lessons that are both locally relevant and transferable, supporting more effective and integrated resilience strategies within and beyond site boundaries.

Investment in Unesco-designated sites is not only support for exceptional places, but also for approaches that have already demonstrated value in sustaining both people and nature. It described stronger protection, reliable long-term resourcing and better integration into wider policy frameworks as an urgent shared responsibility in the face of mounting environmental and socio-economic pressures. It also called for renewed commitment from member states, stronger international cooperation and better alignment of action across sectors and scales.

Global network and local benefits

Unesco said its designated sites form a global network of more than 2,260 locations spread across over 13 million square kilometres. These areas support the livelihoods of about 900 million people worldwide, or around 10 per cent of the global population, including many Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The organisation said the sites also contain a significant share of global biodiversity and contribute to climate regulation.

The assessment said that despite rising environmental pressures, Unesco-designated sites continue to show a high degree of resilience and represent a network where people and nature remain closely linked. This resilience is visible in their ability to adjust to change while continuing to protect ecological integrity, cultural heritage and community well-being.

These sites offer practical, place-based responses to the connected challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss. In landscapes protected over generations through local stewardship, monitored wildlife populations have remained stable on average, in contrast with the 73pc global decline in monitored species since 1970.

Role of overlapping designations

The assessment also examined how these sites are responding to growing pressure from human activity, including climate change, and said many continue to demonstrate resilience despite increasing environmental stress.

The World Heritage Convention is unique in combining the protection of both cultural and natural heritage within a single international instrument, providing the highest level of global recognition and fostering scientific cooperation for the conservation and management of these exceptional places. Rather than duplicating efforts, these overlapping designations reflect complementary roles, allowing multiple dimensions of people–nature relationships to be recognised and managed together.

On cultural heritage, such sites show how societies developed in close response to their natural surroundings. Cities, infrastructure and landscapes were shaped by deserts, rivers, landforms, climate and natural resources.

Unesco said these designated sites help turn global policy goals into practical action on the ground. Positioned at the intersection of climate, biodiversity, culture and development, the sites serve as platforms for integrating policy at local, national and international levels. They provide operational support for countries managing trade-offs, meeting multiple international commitments at the same time and tracking progress towards global targets.