Kulturerbe und Klimawandel - sind wir an einem Wendepunkt?

Our cultural heritage allows us to understand both our past and our future. The year 2018 has therefore been declared the European Year of Cultural Heritage to strengthen and highlight the multifaceted significance of this legacy for Europe and its citizens. However, our cultural heritage is exposed to many different risks and needs our protection. Decay, environmental impacts, neglect, armed conflicts, natural disasters, demolition, redevelopment - the causes leading to the loss of irreplaceable testimonies of the past are manifold (UNESCO 2008a, b). Now, the protection of our cultural heritage has come to a turning point. An unprecedented risk of unimaginable proportions is threatening our cultural goods (IPCC 2007, UNESCO 2007, UNEP, UNESCO, Union of Concerned Scientists 2016). This threat is human-induced climate change, which today already poses considerable risks for humanity. In December 2015, a total of 196 countries officially recognized humaninduced climate change for the first time and passed a resolution to reduce greenhouse gases in the Paris Climate Agreement. Climate change threatens cultural heritage in different ways. On the one hand through the direct influence of extreme weather and environmental conditions (Cassar, 2005; English Heritage, 2008a). On the other, through indirect consequences, which can be even more drastic: the depopulation of entire areas due to climate refugees, the destabilisation of social systems, shrinking financial resources for conservation measures, the decline in the number of visitors and tourists due to extreme weather conditions. These negative effects of climate change not only impact cultural goods themselves by threatening their integrity or existence, they also have far-reaching consequences for the social and economic structures in which they are embedded. As symbols and identity anchors, cultural goods are important points of reference for human culture. The loss or damage of these nonrenewable resources can have serious implications for the collective that relates to them. Cultural goods and historical monuments are, moreover, important sources of income for local economies. The (cultural) tourism sector is one of the most important economic factors, creating high added value and numerous jobs, particularly in rural and structurally weak regions. The collapse of this source of income would have disastrous economic consequences. Considering the grave implications of climate change for our cultural heritage, it is surprising how minor a role these risks still play in politics and research and for the institutions responsible for its protection. Although awareness of the potential risks is growing to a limited extent, wide-ranging and, above all, coordinated activities and forward-looking strategies on how to mitigate the effects of climate change appear to be scant. Although the Council of Europe (Council of Europe, 2017) adopted a "European Cultural Heritage Strategy for the 21st Century" in June 2017, this strategy needs to be translated into action in the Member States