UNESCO recommended Venice to be added to the list of World Heritages in Danger due to Italy’s lack of action to protect the city from the effects of climate change and mass tourism.
Venice is known for its canals and sites. It has been given many nicknames such as “the city of love”, “la dominante” (the dominant), and the “queen of the Adriatic”.
Despite being known as “La Serenissima” or “very serene”, Venice is no longer living up to its nickname. The city’s struggles with mass tourism and the impact of climate change, including rising sea levels, have been a concern for some time and a major reason for it’s upcoming inclusion in the list of Endangered Heritages of the world.
According to UNESCO, their aim is to encourage the preservation of the site for future generations. They have also stated that they plan to discuss the matter with the Italian government.
Officials from UNESCO, the UN’s Cultural Agency have urged the Italian government to take action to address the long-standing problems in Venice, CNN reported.
The experts from the UNESCO World Heritage Centre conduct regular reviews of the 1,157 World Heritage sites under their care. A committee of 21 UNESCO member states will review more than 200 sites and decide which ones to include on the danger list in the upcoming meeting in September In Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The experts are proposing that nearly 10 of these sites be included on the danger list.
Additionally, the cities of Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine have been recommended to be added to the list this year. UNESCO has identified 55 World Heritage sites globally as being “in danger,” and an additional 204 sites are being actively monitored by the agency due to the threats they face.
Some of the sites that are already on the list include the historic centre of Odessa in Ukraine, the town of Timbuktu in Mali, and various sites in Syria, Iraq, and Libya.
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia was almost included on this year’s Unesco danger list, despite still being under “serious threat” from climate change and water pollution. But later UNESCO agreed to review conservation efforts by the Australian government again in 2024.
According to UNESCO, the lack of overall joint strategic vision for the long term preservation of these sites and low effectiveness of integrated coordinated management at all stakeholder levels is hindering the resolution of long-standing but urgent issues.
Why is Venice endangered ?
Venice is at risk of “irreversible” damage due to many factors such as overwhelming tourism, overdevelopment, and rising sea levels caused by climate change. UNESCO’s cultural agency is calling for better preservation of the City of Venice.
Firstly, Venice has been facing the challenges of mass tourism for years, with some 193,000 people squeezing into the historic center on a single day during the 2019 Carnival.
In addition, UNESCO also mentioned that the proposed infrastructure and expansion projects could bring damage to the city. The heritage agency expressed concern that high-rise buildings could have a negative visual impact on Venice and recommended that these infrastructures should be built far from the city.
Moreover, experts believe that the warming planet has also contributed to the situation in Venice. Rising sea levels caused by climate change could have a damaging impact on the city. Also, Venice is surrounded by water and has been prone to flooding.
The report from UNESCO places the blame on the Italian authorities for failing to protect the historic city and surrounding lagoon. The report accuses the authorities of a “lack of strategic vision” in addressing the problems faced by one of Italy’s most picturesque cities. This is certainly a setback for the authorities.
Ultimately, UNESCO stated that the proposed corrective measures put forward by the Italian state like “banning large ships from entering the San Marco Basin and Giudecca Canal” are “currently insufficient and not detailed enough.”Â
UNESCO stated that Italy has not been communicating effectively since its last Committee session in 2021, when the heritage agency threatened to blacklist Venice. Furthermore, the experts from UNESCO have sent multiple letters to the Italian government, but they received insufficient responses.
Venice Municipality reacts to Venice’s addition to the World Heritage in danger list.
According to an Evening Standard report, a spokesperson for the Venice municipality stated that the city would carefully read the recommendation of the Center for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. Venice officials also mentioned that they would discuss measures with the national government.
According to Reuters, a spokesperson for the Venice municipality mentioned that they will review the proposed decision published by the Center for UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee and discuss it with the government.
However, Massimo Cacciari, one of Venice’s former mayors accused that the heritage agency is an expensive and useless organisation, which passes judgement without knowledge. Cacciari also believes that the opinions of UNESCO should be disregarded. He added that Venice doesn’t need UNESCO to be a world heritage site, and there should be more action and fewer words.
