Venice: Unesco wants to place the city in the world heritage in danger

“The impacts of climate change and mass tourism threaten to cause irreversible changes to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property,” says the World Heritage Center, an organization directly attached to UNESCO. According to the international organization, the measures that have been taken so far by the city and the Italian government have proved insufficient. UNESCO Member States will vote on this recommendation in September.

While “tall buildings” “likely to have a significant negative visual impact” should be built away from the city center, “sea level rise” and other “extreme weather events” related to global warming climatic conditions “threaten” the “integrity” of the site, continues Unesco in a notice posted online on Monday.

The resolution of these “old but urgent” problems is “hindered by the absence of an overall common strategic vision” and the “low efficiency and coordination” of Italian local and national authorities, further points out the World Heritage Center.

Venice being faced with “a proven danger”, it “recommends its inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger”, hoping that “this inscription will lead to greater commitment and greater mobilization of local, national and international actors. “.

The opinion of the Heritage Center, which considers that the measures taken by Italy are “insufficient”, is for the moment indicative. For Venice to be included on the list of World Heritage in Danger, it will need the approval of Member States present at a meeting of the World Heritage Committee to be held from September 10 to 25 in Riyadh.

Venice, an island city founded in the 5th century, which became a great maritime power in the 10th century, covers 118 islets, according to Unesco, of which it became a World Heritage Site in 1987.

“Venice as a whole is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece because even the smallest monument contains works by some of the greatest artists in the world, such as Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and others”, explains the United Nations organization.