Culture, Heritage and Climate Science Take Center Stage at IPCC Co-Sponsored Meeting
The long awaited International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change (ICSM CHC) has arrived! This groundbreaking meeting will be of interest to anyone concerned about the better incorporation of culture and heritage into climate science and research
Over 100 scientist, policymakers, practitioners and traditional knowledge holders are spending the week of 6 December 2021 in a series of virtual ICSM CHC sessions helping to develop and review the state of knowledge regarding connections of culture, heritage and climate change. A key goal of of the ICSM CHC is to support future culture-based research, climate science, and climate action.
The ICSM CHC is jointly sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), UNESCO, and ICOMOS. The ICSM CHC was launched at an opening ceremony held at 6 December.
Speakers at the ICSM CHC Launch Event on 6 December included Dr. Hoesung Lee (Chair, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change); Ernesto Ottone Ramirez (UNESCO Assistant Director General, Culture); Prof Dr. Teresa Patricio (ICOMOS President); Dr Pasang Dolma Sherpa, (Former Co-Chair, Facilitative Working Group of the UNFCCC Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform and ED, Center for Indigenous Peoples’ Research and Development); Dr Will Megarry (ICSM Co-Chair); and Dr Hana Morel (ICSM Scientific Coordinator)
“For the first time in IPCC’s history, we are bringing together, in one forum, the scientists and experts from the culture and heritage community and those working on climate change science.
Not only is this a historical meeting but it is a historical opportunity to explore and deepen our collective knowledge and understanding of how climate change impacts culture and heritage, and how these can enlighten our pathways to possible solutions in tackling climate change.”
The Climate Heritage Network believes that culture and heritage need to be better reflected in climate science in general and in the work of the IPCC in particular. At the same time, cultural researchers and actors must align their work more closely with the needs of climate science. The Co-Sponsored Meeting will produce a final report that could be a road map to achieving these aims. Tune in next week and learn how you can be a part of these critical efforts.
Co-Sponsored Meeting Public Sessions
15th century Qaitbey Castle, Alexandria, Egypt (Photo © Siam Diab)
The International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change will include a public launch event and three public panel discussions that align with the Meeting’s key scientific questions: knowledge systems, climate impacts, and climate solutions. These events will be streamed live online at the times listed below.
Co-Sponsored Meeting Launch Event featuring leaders of the IPCC, UNESCO, ICOMOS and Indigenous Peoples Organisations
Monday 6th December 12:00 – 13:00 GMT
Registration
Knowledge Systems and Climate Change: Systemic connections of culture, heritage and climate change
Panel Discussion
Monday, 6 December 13:00-14:00 GMT
Registration
Impacts and Climate Change: Loss, damage and adaption for culture and heritage
Panel Discussion
Wednesday, 8 December 13:00-14:00 GMT
Registration
Heritage Solutions and Climate Change: Role of culture and heritage in transformative change and alternative sustainable futures
Panel Discussion
Friday, 10 December 13:00-14:00 GMT
Registration
CHN Support for the International Co-Sponsored Meeting
Scenes from the CHN-sponsored scoping session for the ICSM CHC proposal, held in October 2019 at Historic Environment Scotland’s Engine Shed facility in Stirling, Scotland
In October 2019, the Climate Heritage Network was pleased to host a scoping session for what ultimately became the concept proposal for the ICSM CHC. This proposal was considered and endorsed by the IPCC Executive Committee in June 2020. In April 2021 the CHN flagged for members that the national governments that make up the IPCC were in the process of suggesting experts in their nations as potential participants in the International Co-Sponsored Meeting. We encouraged CHN members to reach out to their governments to let them know of their interest in seeing qualified individuals selected to participate. The participant list announced for the ICSM CHC is a testament to efforts to assure diverse voices.
In 2021, the Accelerating Climate Action through the Power of Arts, Culture and Heritage Manifesto signed by over 200 cultural organisations and leaders in connection with COP26 expressed the view that the unique insights of carriers of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge ‘have not yet been adequately applied to climate change or accounted for in climate science.’
About the International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage & Climate change (ICSM-CHC)
Taking stock of methods and gaps in translating knowledge about culture and heritage for climate science and policy
The ICSM CHC builds on growing calls for international attention to culture, heritage and climate change. It requests attention to the many connections between culture and the human past and how these intersect with the modern phenomena of climate change. It also highlights the need to address culture and heritage gaps in global climate science and climate change response and seeks to advance the contributions of culture and heritage to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The meeting is sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), UNESCO and ICOMOS. Partners include the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainabilty.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading world body for assessing the science related to climate change, its impacts and potential future risks, and possible response options. A ‘Co-Sponsored Meeting’ is an official modality of the IPCC and a recognized vehicle for addressing matters within the IPCC.
The ICSM CHC will address three overarching scientific questions: (1) culture and heritage as solutions for climate change; (2) impacts of climate change on culture and heritage, and (3) diversity of knowledge systems and their relations to climate change. Two cross-cutting issues, cultural governance and capacity to learn from the past, have been identified as being pertinent to all three scientific questions.
Outcomes of the ICSM CHC are expected to be taken into consideration by the IPCC in developing approaches to working with culture and heritage in its seventh assessment cycle (AR7), which will begin in 2022, including a new special report on climate change and cities.