Position Paper on the Challenges of Monument Conservation in the Face of Climate Change

Between November 2022 and May 2023, ICOMOS Germany, the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), the German Commission for UNESCO, the German National Committee for Monument Protection (DNK), the GERICS Climate Service Center Germany and the Association of Monument Offices in the Federal States (VDL) met to discuss the current challenges of heritage conservation in times of climate change. The result is a position paper on cultural heritage and climate change. The position paper is part of the DBU-sponsored German contribution to the International Co-sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change (ICSM CHC) of UNESCO, ICOMOS and IPCC in December 2021. By signing it, all participating institutions commit to addressing and strengthening the importance of climate change for cultural heritage in their work. The different positions relate to the use of knowledge systems, the empowerment of cultural heritage stakeholders to act, effective cooperation between practice and policy, education, administration, research and society, and the financing of climate impacts and their research.