C Explanatory memorandum
by Mr Andries Gryffroy, rapporteur
1 Introduction
1. In September 2021, the Parliamentary
Assembly called for an ambitious new legal framework, both at national
and European levels, to anchor “the right to a safe, clean, healthy
and sustainable environment” to the European system of human rights.
This was reiterated in the Assembly report on the Reykjavik Summit
of the Council of Europe in January 2023
Note affirming that the Summit to be held
during the Icelandic Presidency in May 2023 should set out a forward-looking
agenda for the Council of Europe, putting people’s interests, concerns, and
expectations back to the forefront of the mission of the Organisation,
including their right to a healthy environment and the fight against
climate change.
2. The Committee on Culture, Science, Education and Media contributed
to the Assembly debate in September 2021, with a specific report
on “Research policies and environment protection”
Note and underlined that research can
provide the innovative solutions that are necessary to counter both
the impoverishment of the planet and the problem of climate change,
and to ensure the sustainable development of our societies. I would add
that research and new technologies will be crucial drivers in the
identification and implementation of the mitigation and adaptation
measures which will be required to combat the effects of climate
change on cultural heritage.
3. The motion for a resolution tabled by Mr Alberto Ribolla
Note clearly states that “[t]he Council
of Europe Framework Convention on the value of cultural heritage
for society (Faro convention) asserts cultural heritage and culture
in general at the centre of a new vision for sustainable development”
and that “[t]he cultural heritage of Europe is today under serious
threat of the devastating effects of climate change.”
4. I fully share the view he expressed in the motion: “The Assembly
should explore the conservation needs and research in new technologies
to prevent or mitigate the effects of climate change on cultural
heritage, recommending that this specific heritage-related activity
be pursued in the future within the Council of Europe culture and
heritage sector.”
5. I wish to warmly thank the many enthusiastic men and women
that we have interviewed online during the preparation of the report,
for sharing their knowledge, experience, and thoughts on required
action in the future.
Note Their
examples of good practice are covered in the subsequent chapters
of the explanatory memorandum. I also wish to warmly thank Dr John
Bold, a heritage expert from the United Kingdom, who has assisted
me in preparing this report.
2 Effects of climate change on different
categories of cultural heritage
6. The conservation of cultural
heritage and its sustainable use have human development and quality
of life as their goal.
Note We are individually and collectively
enriched by cultural heritage and consequently impoverished by its
degradation or loss: an awareness of the risk to cultural heritage
sharpens our appreciation of what might be lost.
7. All forms of cultural heritage are now directly and indirectly
threatened by climate change which brings a variety of consequences,
varying in different geographical locations and physical circumstances:
increased temperatures, floods, humidity, extreme rainfall, strong
storms, heatwaves, drought, landslides, wildfires, and air pollution
affect monuments, archaeological sites, historic cities and houses,
parks and gardens, museum collections, and libraries. The foreseen
rise in sea levels will cause additional coastal erosion and invasion
of salty marine waters affecting coastal heritage, with an effect
not only on the jewels of European common heritage – such as the
Venice lagoon and other historic coastal cities – but equally the
livelihoods of people living in these areas.
8. So it is incumbent upon us to consider the effects of climate
change and the speed of its impact (slow-onset, gradual, with long-term
consequences, or rapid-onset, short-lived but intense with immediate consequences)
on different categories of cultural heritage in several circumstances:
on built heritage and building materials; on indoor collections
in stately homes, museums and archives, recognising the co-existence of
historic structures and the artifacts housed within them;
Note on
historic cities and archaeological sites; on historic gardens and
cultural landscapes; on coastal areas; as well as on intangible
heritage that preserves and transmits traditional knowledge and
skills.
9. Although not specifying cultural heritage, the parties to
the Paris Agreement (UN, 2015)
Note recognised the importance of “averting,
minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse
effects of climate change” (Article 8). Each heritage category will
require different strategies to remedy, adapt or mitigate its effects,
but considered together these may offer generic, mutually reinforcing,
and sustainable outcomes. But time is short.
2.1 Effects
on historic cities: Venice
10. The effects of climate change
on built heritage, together with other instrumental human interventions, may
be most dramatically illustrated in Venice where rising sea levels
and land subsidence (compacting of ancient sediment together with
the pumping out of ground water for industrial processes) are significantly threatening
the fabric of its buildings and people’s way of life. As the rising
water levels exceed the heights of waterproof basements, the buildings
become impregnated with saline marine water with the consequent disaggregation
of plaster, bricks, and stones. Also, as a consequence of the rising
levels, the relationship between natural element and built fabric
is detrimentally changed: the steps up to buildings become harder
to access by boat and the bridges become too low for boats to pass
under them.
11. Compounding the situation there has been a tension inherent
in the management of the city and its region in which commerce and
conservation have been ill-aligned: the passage of enormous cruise
ships along the central Giudecca canal, eroding the foundations
of buildings in their wake, and the dredging of the lagoon channels
to allow for the passage of giant oil tankers, disturbing the vulnerable
eco-system, are now both in the process of being corrected. The
cruise ships have been banned from the centre of the city and an
offshore terminal will accommodate large tankers in deep water.
12. The long-awaited flood barriers at the three inlets to the
lagoon from the Adriatic at the Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia are
now in operation. These will protect the city from regular surges
of high water (
Acqua alta)
if not from the overall long-term rise in sea levels. Venice and
its lagoon present not only the tangible incomparable riches of
art, architecture, habitat and landscape, but, as recognised by
UNESCO
Note the city also “symbolises the people’s
victorious struggle against the elements”: with climate change,
this struggle is destined to continue
a
fortiori.
2.2 Effects
on intangible heritage and landscape: the Sami
13. Analogous struggles are taking
place in the rather different circumstances experienced by the Sami
in Northern Europe where climate change is seriously threatening
the values, lives, and practices of their communities in the northern
parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, and the combined territory
of Sápmi. The Sami are the only indigenous people left in Europe,
numbering almost 100 000 today, although no formal censuses based
on ethnicity exist.
14. The cultural heritage of the Sami is intricately linked to
the landscape on which as a fundamental principle, they leave no
lasting trace so they lack precise definitions of place, although
that which appears to many outsiders to be uninhabited, inhospitable
wilderness is a rich cultural landscape for the Sami. Their traditions
and way of life are now at risk, not only through climate change
but also through governmental and economic development actions,
some of which are themselves designed to combat the effects of climate change.
15. It is paradoxical that “green” government measures (pejoratively
known as “green colonialism”), such as renewable energy, can have
a negative effect on the indigenous population: rivers being controlled
by hydro-power plants make it impossible for the Sami to predict
waterflow; giant windfarms have destroyed reindeer pastures and
migration routes. Also the non-green exploitation of the land for
mining oil, gas and lithium (to satisfy the ever-increasing demand
for batteries while responding to EU pressure to minimise reliance
on imports from China) destroys and pollutes, threatening communities
and their livelihoods.
16. The Sami traditions which are most seriously impacted by climate
change and development include reindeer husbandry, fishing, gathering
and craftwork. Reindeers migrate according to the location of pastures, but
these are threatened by warmer temperatures as snow turns to rain
which then freezes on the ground, trapping vegetation under the
ice where the reindeer cannot reach it. Forestry and mining activities
are also displacing the reindeers from their traditional grazing
grounds: supplementary feeding is costly and labour-intensive. Fishing
is at risk since fish are fewer and smaller than before. In fact
we need urgent measures to counter the potential world-wide collapse
of the fish stock. Gathering is now problematic since the availability and
ripeness of berries is affected by the changing weather, so traditional
cooking must adapt in response to the accessibility of ingredients.
Crafts are also changing – traditional reindeer-skin boots are no
longer required in warmer winters. The destructively disruptive
effects of climate change are exacerbated for the Sami by the unpredictability
of the changing weather which used to provide a reliable framework
for activity and location.
17. There are individual Sami Parliaments in Norway, Sweden and
Finland which co-operate on indigenous rights, linguistic and cultural
rights, climate, and environmental issues. Representatives of the
Sami Parliaments also participate in committee meetings of the Nordic
Council
Note when Sami issues are discussed and have
permanent participant status on the Arctic Council.
Note But
their influence is limited: there are, for example, no Sami representatives
in the Swedish Parliament.
18. Norway, which has the largest Sami population, is ahead of
its neighbours in protecting Sami rights. Following major Sami protests
in the 1970s over hydro-power schemes, Norway became the only Nordic country
to ratify the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (C169) of
the International Labour Organization (ILO) which entered into force
in 1991. This lays upon governments the responsibility for developing,
with the participation of the peoples concerned, “co-ordinated and
systematic action to protect the rights of these peoples and to
guarantee respect for their integrity”, ensuring that they “enjoy
the full measure of human rights and fundamental freedoms without
hindrance or discrimination” (Articles 2 and 3).
19. The ILO Convention urges governments to identify and recognise
the lands which the people concerned traditionally occupied and
also to safeguard their right to use lands not exclusively occupied
by them, but to which they have traditionally had access: “particular
attention shall be paid to the situation of nomadic peoples and
shifting cultivators in this respect” (Article 14). The Sami practice
of leaving no permanent trace on the landscape might hamper this
identification.
20. Although mapping is crucial to safeguarding rights of occupation,
some Sami see it as a risk, notwithstanding the benefits, since
it is feared that it might further encourage tourism, so a balance
must be struck between identifying and protecting the land occupied
by the Sami while permitting controlled tourism and development.
Similarly, the Sami mistrust the potential inclusion of their cultural
sites on a Swedish national database, fearing that sites would be
vandalised if identifiable, so they are working on their own unofficial database
which is not yet open to the public. This is a complex issue of
trust in processes and outcomes.
21. The Sami have a limited political voice and national politics
and big business provide a powerful narrative which easily privileges
economic development over the interests of these often exoticised
indigenous people about whom there is very limited public education
and understanding: the creation by the Sami of local museums of
their own history and culture is intended to counter this lack of
understanding. But too often the prevailing narrative is that Sami
interests hinder development, so the creation of mines on Sami land
without consultation and the cutting down of Sami forests continues.
22. The lack of identifiable physical sites and structures hampers
the protection of Sami interests since although the intangible cultural
heritage interconnects with natural cultural landscapes and tangible
built heritage, “the impacts of climate mobility on the intangible
values of displaced communities are rarely mentioned in the climate-relocation
debates”.
Note Since the Sami existed before
the creation of nation States the answer may lie with the European
Union (although Norway is not a member) rather than with the individual national
governments. A broader trans-national European land-use plan for
Sami rights is needed for this European cross-border problem. This
could be a two-way process: we should ask in view of their thorough traditional
knowledge of landscape and climate what we can learn from the Sami
about the preservation of the natural world and climate adaptation
in times of crisis.
3 Mitigation
and adaptation strategies
23. Adaptation may be viewed as
the poor partner of mitigation, required as a fallback position
when mitigation has failed, but it is nevertheless urgently required
and we should endeavour to identify mitigation and adaptation strategies
for different types of cultural heritage: tangible and intangible;
cities, coastal areas, and cultural landscapes. By studying traditional
methods, we might rediscover traditional maintenance measures and
integrate them with modern conservation techniques, combining low
and high technology. In doing so it is particularly important to
avoid maladaptation so as to guard against losing the elements which
give cultural heritage its value. This is a pressing matter since
the cheap energy which enabled the development of modern machine-based
maintenance and building-servicing methods, is no longer an affordable
or climate-friendly option.
24. Connecting tangible with intangible heritage could provide
an alternative approach to institutional models of valuing heritage
and risk assessment. The Faro Convention, which promotes the involvement
of local heritage communities,
Note offers
excellent guidance on rights and shared responsibilities relating
to our common heritage, the contribution of that heritage to society,
and the need for public participation, all of which might be brought
to bear in considering our responses to adapting to and mitigating
the impact of climate change on cultural heritage.
3.1 Low-cost
mitigation techniques: Pakistan
25. In considering the strategies
required to mitigate the effects of climate change on historic buildings,
we might learn from the experience of architects in the sub-continent
who have become familiar with the need for innovative, low-cost
buildings, particularly following natural disasters. So in Pakistan,
following the devastating earthquake in 2005, the architect Yasmeen
Lari responded by using long-established techniques such as building
with earth, lime and bamboo which proved to be effective, cheap
and environmentally friendly, using materials close to hand, with
readily teachable skills.
Note
26. Since the funds in Pakistan dedicated towards the conservation
and preservation of heritage buildings are negligible, low-cost
mitigation techniques have been developed. The emphasis is on maintenance,
which begins with cleaning in order to assess the works needed;
repairing plaster and paint; removing plant growth; taking steps
to prevent rain and water damage; removing mould and fungus, treating
the affected surfaces and introducing natural or exhaust-fan ventilation
to prevent recurrence; eliminating rodents and pests through cleaning,
airing and repairing holes to stop access. The key for successful
adaptive, low-cost re-use of historic buildings in Pakistan has
been shown to be community involvement: if the community has a stake
in the building, then people will monitor its condition and the
day-to-day upkeep which inhibits deterioration will become key to
survival and re-use.
Note
27. Day-to-day upkeep is always necessary with buildings, ever
more so with the onset of extremes of climate in which, for example,
rainwater goods designed for previous expectations of rainfall must
be regularly inspected, cleaned, maintained and possibly replaced
to cope with increased, often violently-delivered volumes of water
which must be accommodated and taken away from the building before
overflowing causes serious damage. Maintenance problems may also
follow increased heat which causes the lead on roofs to become less
resilient and potentially porous, and high winds which bring debris,
impact damage and potential total destruction.
3.2 Improving
energy performance of historic buildings: Estonia
28. Regular maintenance accompanied
by cleaning and sustainable renovation has also been recognised in
Estonia as being a far better approach in mitigating the effects
of climate change on buildings in the midst of an energy crisis
than building anew. The Estonian guidelines for improving the energy
performance of historic buildings state: “necessary repair should
be carried out before or in parallel with the implementation of
energy performance improvement measures. This will improve the building’s
energy performance”.
Note
29. Steps must be taken to ensure that the planning framework
also evolves in response, acknowledging that a nuanced approach
is needed if the disparate demands of new build and historic buildings
are to be accommodated in the advisory and regulatory frameworks:
new build regulation is not applicable and might be damaging to
historic buildings so it must be amended accordingly. There has
been a renaissance in the rehabilitation of traditional wooden houses
in Tallinn (Estonia), as in Riga (Latvia), the key here, as in Pakistan being
awareness-raising and community involvement, shifting the emphasis
in the built environment towards energy-saving rehabilitation over
energy-intensive new build.
30. It is now a truism to state that the most sustainable building
is the one that is already there: new construction requires enormous
amounts of energy at great cost and creates climate-damaging emissions.
In such circumstances, the conversion or adaptation of existing
buildings is more sympathetic to mitigating the impact of climate
change than demolishing and starting again. Sometimes a compromise
position might result in recycling the existing materials and employing
them in the rebuild. But in the United Kingdom, for example, in
the absence of a statutory framework which encourages energy efficiency
in the construction process as assiduously as it seeks to control
the energy efficiency of buildings once they are built, there is
an obvious limit on how much business interests might be persuaded
to put climate change at the top of their corporate agenda, without
governmental intervention.
Note
3.3 Re-use
of building materials: Belgium
31. The re-use of building materials,
a practice which is being particularly promoted in Belgium by, for example,
the Flanders Heritage Agency
Note and also by Rotor,
Note a co-operative design practice,
is to be encouraged since it enables the re-use of ceramic tiles,
once the mortar has been removed, the re-processing of wood, the
re-use of furniture, building hardware and sanitary equipment. This
approach to sustainability is however not always cheaper than using
new materials, because of the cleaning costs, but it is energy-efficient in
not requiring new manufacture and in its application to historic
buildings is particularly applicable.
32. The problem to be overcome in re-using materials is that of
the difficulty in certifying the resilience of the material, but
this is part of the larger problem faced by historic buildings in
a regulatory culture which privileges the new. Historic buildings
are different, being rare and irreplaceable. They should not be
subject to the same stringent regulations as new-builds, but treated
as special cases, with skilled workers given improved training in
crafts, and incentives provided to encourage careful owners.
33. As well as re-using building materials, a revival of traditional
building components should also be considered. Hoods, canopies,
and external shutters over windows will all contribute to maintaining
a comfortable temperature within the building in hot weather; internal
shutters are particularly effective in maintaining heat in winter.
All of this can be achieved without compromising the good ventilation
necessary for a healthy environment for both the building fabric
– eliminating moisture and decay – and the inhabitants. Reductions
in energy use through this upgrading of existing buildings will
reduce carbon emissions, improve comfort and health, and save money
3.4 Mitigation
and adaptation strategy: Champagne region in France
34. In the winegrowing Champagne
region in France, the average temperature has risen 1.4°C in fifty
years. The warmer climate so far has had positive effects on wine
production and adaptation by winegrowers will continue to be possible,
so long as the temperature does not rise above 2°C. As well as the
rising temperatures there are more intense rainy seasons and periods
of dryness. Consequences include a greater risk of floods bringing
the risk of increased pollutants; methods have therefore been developed
to better manage groundwater to facilitate the infiltration or evacuation
of rainwater where needed.
35. There is also an increased risk of soil erosion which is being
countered by the growing of grass on bare earth and by the re-instating
of dry-stone walls. Different resilient grape varieties, more resistant
to heat, drought and fungi, are also being introduced: a reduction
in fungi has the beneficial effect of reducing the need for pesticides.
36. Growers in the Champagne region have two goals: the adaptation
of the vineyards in response to climate change to continue to produce
typical wines, and mitigation through the reduction of carbon emissions
by 75% by 2050. The reduction of carbon emissions is being achieved
across the industry by such measures as scrapping energy-intensive
frost-control systems; reducing mineral fertilisers; reducing the
weight of bottles and introducing the eco-design of locally-sourced
boxes and packaging, so reducing CO² emissions; reducing energy
consumption in storage cellars through LED lighting, and so on.
37. Attention is also being paid to biodiversity through the re-vegetation
of hillsides, combating soil erosion, the planting of trees and
the rehabilitation of organisms which fight the parasites which
are harmful to the vines. It is acknowledged in the Champagne region
that while the production of their luxury product must evolve to survive
the effects of climate change, they are in a stronger position than
many other wine growers to take such steps as reducing the use of
herbicides and so spending more time on labour-intensive tillage,
often with expensive heavy machinery, because their market, mostly
well-off and informed, can bear the increased costs.
3.5 Reviving
traditional art and know-how: drystone walls in Croatia
38. The reinstatement of drystone
walls in the Champagne region is part of the much wider recognition
of their attractiveness and utility, with initiatives in Croatia,
Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland as well as
France. Although they are clearly tangible features of the landscape,
it is as important to recognise the intangible traditional art and
know-how which goes into their skilled construction by stacking
and interlocking stones without using mortar, so it is noteworthy
that the ”Art of drystone walling, knowledge and techniques” was
inscribed in 2018 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
39. Drystone walls have a significant role to play in helping
to combat the effects of climate change and countering the damaging
effects of the wide-open-prairie style of agricultural management,
created for massive agri-businesses which use expensive machinery
and have now through their exposure to the elements proved very
vulnerable to extreme climatic events. Drystone walls sub-divide
the land in a humanly manageable manner. They play a vital role
in inhibiting the occurrence of landslides, floods and avalanches,
combating erosion and desertification of the land, enhancing biodiversity
and creating the microclimatic conditions in which agriculture thrives.
They also regulate the exposure to sun, wind and rain on crops.
40. Drystone walls, with accompanying terracing, have also always
been an important element of sites for the cultivation of vines
and olives. In Croatia, Association 4 Grada Dragodid
Note was established to preserve and pass
on the tradition of drystone walling. Their work is multi-faceted,
encompassing environment, society, education and sustainability.
The focus is upon awareness raising rather than direct repair, so
it strengthens and empowers the local community to become involved
in the preservation of walls,
Note something which is crucial in rural
areas in particular, for example on the island of Cres where depopulation
following the decline of the traditional industries of agriculture
and fishing has resulted in the progressive decay of village settlements and
their vernacular building. Into this gap, the tourist industry has
arrived, seeking to fulfil the expectations of visitors expecting
highly serviced air-conditioned accommodation, putting serious unsustainable
pressure on electrical and water supplies and drainage.
41. In these tourist-development circumstances the traditional
stone buildings and drystone walls are at grave risk. The Ministry
of Culture is thus working to encourage a local collaborative and
interdisciplinary approach to manage these issues, stimulating owners,
developers and the local population to recognise the potential of
built heritage in economic regeneration and not allow development
associated with the servicing of tourism to destroy the vernacular
heritage built at human scale which encourages tourists to come
in the first place.
Note
4 Innovation
and research
42. Technologies which have most
commonly been used to maintain stable indoor temperatures and humidity
to preserve indoor collections – historic documents and archives,
paintings, furniture, precious objects, or textiles – have become
problematic since the cost of artificial heating and cooling is
becoming unaffordable. We must identify examples of a more pragmatic
and integrated approach, reconciling heritage conservation, energy
saving and sustainable development. Adequate protection and conservation management
of heritage sites require a systematic approach as a basis for diagnoses
and actions, flexible enough to consider the evolving cause and
effect relationship of degradation phenomena.
43. To strengthen resilience against the adverse effects of climate
change, it is important to include cultural heritage in the future
modelling of climate impacts. Such mapping could provide a basis
for an early warning system as a first step in building resilience.
44. In response to previous crises in the 19th century such as
outbreaks of epidemics in cities, the importance of a hygienic environment
was recognised and various natural techniques were developed to improve
indoor air quality and temperature. Natural ventilation exploits
the differences in air pressure which come from temperature and
wind pressure. To achieve consistency, natural ventilation may be
aided by fans and ventilators or cowls to induce airflows.
Note
45. At the forefront of ventilation developments in the United
Kingdom, the Scottish chemist, David Boswell Reid, provided the
ventilation plan for the temporary House of Commons, erected after
the fire in the Palace of Westminster in 1834, then in the permanent
replacement building: an external source of heat – either a fire
or a steam engine – was used to create a current through the buildings,
using vertical shafts to evacuate putrefied air and draw in fresh
air.
Note In the
United States, Frank Lloyd Wright innovatively introduced air intakes alongside
the stairwells in the four corner towers to ventilate the Larkin
Administrative building in Buffalo (1904): air was drawn down into
plant rooms, cleaned, heated or cooled and distributed through ducts throughout
the building.
Note
46. There was no humidity control at the Larkin building so this
was not yet the energy-intensive electrically powered air-conditioning
which could be rapidly and consistently deployed, often in portable
form, superseding natural ventilation, which had minimal demands
for power. The development of powered air conditioning in the twentieth
century liberated architectural design but it came with a caveat:
“for anyone who is prepared to foot the consequent bill for power
consumed, it is now possible to live in almost any type or form
of house one likes to name in any region of the world that takes
the fancy”.
Note Those days have passed:
air conditioning has high capital costs, high running costs and
high levels of energy consumption, so architects and engineers must
once again be imaginative.
47. It is now recognised that to counter the temperature and humidity
effects of climate change during an energy crisis, a return to cheaper,
natural methods of temperature control is necessary. Professor Jochen Käferhaus
is a leader in recent developments applicable to historic buildings,
arguing for a reduction in the use of machinery, regulating heat
by using tunnels within the building, augmented by ice blocks and
using the building itself to minimise the demand for temperature
and humidity controls by exploiting through-draughts between openings
on each side of the building, opening windows at night, introducing
outside shading, better insulation, triple-glazing and photo-voltaic
panels on the roof to convert thermal energy into electricity.
48. He has pointed out the harsh effects of powerful air conditioning
on museum contents and argued for using the building itself as a
passive means of climatisation, adding shafts and openable flaps
to release warm air in summer and closing them in winter: “warm,
radiating walls are the best damage prevention and the best way,
to transport heat (and cold) into a room instead of using expensive
and destroying convective air conditioning in winter and summer”.
Note
49. The recent development of vacuum glass may revolutionise the
treatment of historic buildings in an energy crisis by offering
a new technological strategy for retrofitting windows in historic
buildings: two layers of 3mm glass with a 1mm vacuum will provide
a greater thermal reduction than double-glazing while fitting into existing
window frames and so preserving traditional appearances.
50. In the United Kingdom, both English Heritage and the National
Trust have introduced solar panels to properties in their care to
generate green energy and reduce their carbon footprint. LED lights
have also been installed, using over 75% less energy than incandescent
lighting. Both these organisations are faced with the problems of
maintaining both building fabric and historic collections while
accommodating visitors. They share this management and conservation
problem with the Palace of Versailles about which Danilo Forleo
addressed the committee in December 2022.
51. At Versailles “the question arose as to how best preserve
fragile indoor collections when the cost of artificial heating and
cooling is becoming unaffordable. The technical conservation solutions
usually recommended by museum professionals and developed in recent
decades are no longer sustainable, either financially or in terms
of energy consumption”. We need to go beyond the widely accepted
dichotomy that sees conservation on the one hand and climate management
and sustainable development on the other, as two opposing and inversely
proportional variables. New strategies must be adopted and disseminated
so as to resolve this apparently insoluble conundrum.
Note
52. The EPICO (European Protocol in Preventive Conservation)
Note programme for the conservation of historic
houses and palace-museums was mentioned here. The EPICO method,
which has been developed since 2014 with the collaboration of a
multidisciplinary team, is an assessment system for assisting with decision-making
based on analysis of deterioration indicators, causes and diagnostics.
With its novel systemic approach, the method links up deterioration
patterns, environmental trends and knowledge about heritage items
and monuments to determine the measures needed for long-term conservation.
In line with the objectives of environmental transition, this tool
seeks to strike the right balance between the various elements of
the system, namely conservation, climate change, energy consumption
and carbon footprint.
53. To this end, solutions have often been found through traditional
materials and conservation methods aimed at reducing dependence
on central heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems
and the resulting energy consumption. These include the use of natural
ventilation, the combined use of shutters, solar filters, technical
fabrics and restored curtains to regulate the amount of solar radiation
entering rooms, and the benefits in terms of energy costs and conservation
of local heating systems close to the occupants compared to central
heating. This approach has also been adopted by the National Trust
in the United Kingdom, which proposes relatively low heating targets
(16-17°C) for the purpose of regulating humidity to levels suitable
for conservation (40-70% depending on the collections) so as to
avoid the use of humidifiers and dehumidifiers.
54. EPICO has confirmed the value of such simple solutions to
contemporary problems, starting with knowledge of the condition
of collections and their real conservation needs; followed by indoor
climate regulation strategies based on reasonable temperature and
humidity targets depending on the historical environment of the
works; building insulation; and the identification of traditional
methods combined with modern conservation technology. So, whether
for monumental stone buildings in Europe or vernacular buildings
in Pakistan, the first steps in combating the effects of climate
change on built heritage are maintenance and preventive conservation.
For instance, facades blackened by pollution absorb heat and contribute
to global warming; cleaned facades reflect solar radiation and reduce
indoor temperatures.
55. Rather than simply acting to mitigate the effects of climate
change on cultural heritage, sometimes after the event, predicting
likely outcomes will enable the museum curators to take necessary
mitigating steps in advance. Paul Lankester
Note sought to identify predictive models
for assessing the impact of climate change on historic interiors.
He employed building simulation, typically used before constructing
new buildings, using the EnergyPlus software, developed by the US
Government energy department, to predict the indoor environment when
given the details of the physical properties, construction materials,
orientation of the building, and the outdoor environment: temperature,
humidity, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, solar
radiation and cloud cover, with some of these being more routinely
measured and collected than others.
56. The transfer function which was developed during research,
calibrated through observations of indoor and outdoor conditions,
specific to each room and location used in testing, was able to
predict the temperature, specific humidity and relative humidity.
On this basis, it is possible to predict future damage – paper and
silk degradation, mould growth, increase in insects, and to take
appropriate mitigating action, also bearing in mind that: “it is
important to balance the threat of climate change to other future
threats to heritage, and maybe the balance between this and other
important threats, environmental pollution, financial stringency,
changing population etc.”
57. During the same time period, “Climate Change Modelling and
Whole Building Simulation as a Tool for Assessing Indoor Climates
in Buildings” was researched by Dr Johanna Leissner and others.
Note Climate
for Culture was an EU-funded project (2009-14) which coupled climate
modelling with building simulation tools (normally designed for
new buildings, they were adapted by using real data from historic
buildings) to estimate the impacts of climate change on the indoor
environments and collections in historic buildings. The outdoor climate
influences the building envelope and governs the indoor climate:
“its buffering and insulating capacities have a strong effect on
temperature and relative humidity and these parameters establish
either a safe or an unsafe environment for the cultural heritage
displayed” – hence the current debates about the appropriate indoor
climate in museums and historic buildings, prompted by changing
climate conditions and rising energy bills, and the search for new
agreed standards. It is desirable that international agreement on
standards is reached since the absence of a consensus on conditions
might inhibit inter-museum loans for exhibitions if institutions
are applying differing measures.
58. Although there is now a body of research into predictive climate
conditions and building behaviour, impacting interior collections,
standards and norms have not been so far sufficiently extrapolated:
research is carried out but the results are not widely taken up;
projects are funded but implementation, which is less attractively
innovative and potentially ground-breaking, tends to fall outside
project-funding parameters, so findings are not followed through
as researchers perforce move on to the next funded project; and
there is the recurrent enervating battle with developers whose vested
interests privilege profit above all other considerations.
5 Awareness-raising,
education and training
59. There has been growing awareness
of the increasing scientific evidence of global climate change since the
1980s: warming oceans, melting polar ice and glaciers, rising sea
levels, more extreme weather events. The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (New York, 1992), “acknowledging that
change in the Earth’s climate and its adverse effects are a common
concern of humankind”, entered into force in 1994. The first Conference
of the Parties (COP 1)
Note followed
in Berlin in 1995.
60. COP 27 took place in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022. It was noted
in the subsequent Implementation Plan, in the context of mitigation,
that limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires rapid, deep and sustained
reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions of 43% by 2030, and
that to achieve this will require accelerated action on the basis
of equity and the best scientific knowledge, reflecting differentiated
responsibilities and capabilities, in the light of different national
circumstances and in the context of sustainable development and
efforts to eradicate poverty (IV, 11-12). In the context of adaptation,
the gap between levels of adaptation and levels needed to respond
to the adverse effect of climate change was noted ominously with
serious concern. The major achievement of COP 27 was the agreement
of a fund to compensate developing countries for loss or damage,
and to rebuild physical and social infrastructure of countries devastated
by extreme weather, but how it will be funded and distributed remains
to be seen: COP 28 was held in Dubai in November 2023.
61. So, this acknowledgement and combating of climate change has
been going on for forty years with ever increasing force; yet we
are still arguing and we are still complaining about a lack of awareness.
But is this really a lack of awareness or is it avoidance, either
by the wealthy with vested interests who profit and do not wish
to pay to redress or alleviate a dire situation, or by the poor
who feel that they cannot afford to do so without financial compensatory
incentives, or by those who feel it is a southern problem, not a
northern problem? Is it a lack of awareness of the threat of climate
change or a lack of awareness about what individuals might do to
contribute towards mitigating its effects?
62. The descriptive language of climate change is often technical
and not well understood, and how individuals might influence a global
crisis is not always equitable: when airline companies fly empty
planes simply to retain their slots at international airports, and
private jets proliferate, how might one persuade travellers to reduce
their consumption of cheap flights?
63. We need better awareness of how to engage building owners
and demonstrate to them, with financial and planning incentives,
how they might adapt their buildings in response to the challenges
of climate change. Publicity campaigns through the media might be
used to address the issues. We must give close consideration to
how the message is delivered and who delivers it, since too often
in regulations for historic buildings, the response is negative
rather than enabling, advising owners that they cannot do something,
rather than advising them how they might achieve a better outcome.
The situation is compounded in those countries whose regulations
for historic buildings are administered by an “Institute of Protection”,
a very restrictive, negative sounding title which implies prevention
rather than opportunity. Perhaps “Institute of Buildings Maintenance”, or
similar, would be more encouraging.
64. To achieve the provision of good, constructive advice to owners,
an increase in fully-trained historic buildings maintenance experts
will be required. The reduction in historic buildings expertise
at local authority level has adversely affected the provision of
advice since there are no longer enough knowledgeable and creative
members of staff to advise building owners on how they might be
able to adapt historic buildings to new climate circumstances.
65. Above and beyond all these considerations is the short attention
span of many politicians who see no value in looking beyond the
likely result of the next election. The devastating humanitarian
disaster of the war in Ukraine and the consequent rise in energy
costs has had a more immediate impact on energy reduction strategies
in the West than decades of climate change discussions.
66. We must change the narrative if the message is to be heard
and acted upon. Although awareness of climate change overall is
rising, awareness of its impact on cultural heritage remains low:
“Awareness of the vulnerability of cultural heritage and the increasing
threats posed by climate change to European heritage is still very
low in the heritage community and even lower in wider society and
at the political decision-making level”.
Note To change
the narrative, we need better information that is precisely targeted.
As Historic England noted, “successful adaptation to the challenges
and opportunities presented by a changing climate is very much dependent
upon having access to up to date and relevant information”.
Note
67. The effects of climate change on different categories of cultural
heritage, mitigation and adaptation strategies and awareness raising,
education and training have been addressed in two EU-funded projects: HERACLES
(Heritage resilience against climate events on site) and the recently
commenced GreenHeritage (the impact of climate change on intangible
cultural heritage). HERACLES considered archaeological sites and coastal
monuments in Crete affected by sea-level rise, increased salinity
and changes in weather patterns, and historic cities in Italy affected
by heavy rains, temperature variations and moreover by seismic risks.
During the lifetime of the project, specific events involving schools,
policy makers, cultural heritage managers and so on, were organised
to raise awareness.
68. Similar initiatives and events are proposed in Green Heritage
(which among other things will consider drystone walling in Italy,
religious rituals in Italy, food and agricultural traditions in
Spain and Greece and fishing in Latvia), since raising the awareness
of civil society as a whole is seen as a primary purpose of the
project. It is anticipated that an emphasis on risk to intangible
cultural heritage and what might be lost through climate change,
will raise awareness, encouraging public knowledge and participation.
It is always the threat to cultural heritage which concentrates
the mind and lays the ground for protective action.
69. Projects such as these have considerable potential in changing
the narrative of climate change and focusing minds on risks and
how they might be countered. This is especially important in building
management since university education in architecture continues
to privilege the design of new buildings rather than adaptation
and re-use of historic buildings, and even when considering the
new might overlook climate considerations. We must learn from hot
countries and reduce our reliance on concrete and steel, and temper our
use of glass, which without shading to protect the interiors will
be very hot in summer and very cold in winter, requiring unsustainable
amounts of energy to correct the imbalances and make the building comfortable.
70. A radical re-orientation of architectural education is required
in response to the climate crisis and the need to maintain and re-use
existing buildings – not necessarily just the obviously historic
buildings but also modern buildings capable of re-use. Students
should be instructed in how to accommodate the existing building stock
rather than consistently being required to design new build. This
is not just an issue for individual architecture schools and universities
but also for the regulatory bodies which oversee standards and set
the requirements for architectural qualification.
71. We should learn also that adaptive re-use of historic buildings
not only creatively preserves the existing stock and brings it back
into beneficial use but also helps achieve low-carbon targets since
it is demolition and new construction which increases CO² levels
in the atmosphere.
6 Required
policy action
72. Climate change is one of the
major political, economic, and social crises of our time. It involves everybody
and requires concerted international co-operation if it is to be
adequately confronted and combated. It is worrying that climate
activists are still having to repeat arguments first enunciated
forty years ago. Education, awareness raising, and training are
key to changing attitudes and perceptions, to co-operating across
and within sectors, and involving the public in the process, but
these require political leadership, a change in governance models
and funding. Cultural heritage professionals must ensure that both
tangible and intangible heritage are part of the narrative since
cultural heritage is too often perceived as a desirable add-on rather
than being fundamental to social cohesion and well-being.
73. Consideration must be given to the following policy actions
for the future: change institutional behaviour, create new partnerships
and business models, adapt planning processes in cities and rural
areas, including changes to existing standards (for museum collections,
for urban planning, for agriculture and landscaping, etc), ensure
efficient resource and energy management; invest in research, combine
high tech with low tech solutions, innovate and learn from traditional
sustainable solutions offered by cultural heritage; make good use of
traditional materials and methods.
74. Government and the media must be persuaded to support initiatives
for real tangible change so that problems and their solutions are
brought home to individuals, institutions and corporations. As we
look on with horror at instantaneously transmitted images of wildfires
ravaging southern Europe and elsewhere, we can no longer protest
ignorance or inertia. Cultural heritage is fundamental to our well-being
– we all have the right to benefit and to contribute towards its
enrichment, and the responsibility to respect the cultural heritage
of others (Faro Convention, Article 4) – but cultural heritage does
not stand alone; it is part of a wider world, and that world is
now at risk.
75. Full transparency is required to combat this crisis. People
must be educated on what must be done, how they might contribute
and how they might benefit. Young people’s meaningful participation
in climate related decision-making processes and in initiatives
of protection and preservation of cultural heritage must increase. The
problem in hoping for this is that a lot of the very influential
media and many politicians are in thrall to vested interests and
in denial about the scale of the problems and how they might be
overcome, so they dissemble and mislead when honesty and clarity
are required. We should make it easy for people to understand the problem
and to understand what they might do and show them in clear terms
what their responsible behaviour will achieve.
76. We should insist on the provision of incentives such as tax
reductions to encourage maintenance, monitoring and adaptation to
mitigate the effects of climate change on cultural heritage assets
– it remains absurd and iniquitous in the United Kingdom that 20%
VAT is levied on repair and maintenance works to historic buildings
but not on demolitions or new build, so there is “a perverse incentive
to demolish old buildings rather than repairing and re-using them”.
Note
77. We should take steps to ensure, through local planning authorities
and through bodies responsible for historic buildings, that owners
are made fully aware of the many options available to them, possibly
with financial incentives or tax breaks, in adapting their buildings
for climate change.
78. Collaboration will be key to success. The agreement in Cancun
(COP 16, 2010) that “enhanced action and international co-operation
on adaptation is urgently required to enable and support the implementation
of adaptation actions aimed at reducing vulnerability and building
resilience [...]” (II, 11), informed the recommendations of the
Paris Agreement (UN, 2015). These included sharing information,
good practices, experiences and lessons learned; strengthening institutional
arrangements; increasing scientific knowledge, including research
and systematic observation; assisting other countries in identifying
effective adaptation practices; and improving the effectiveness
and durability of those adaptation actions (7.7).
79. Decisions made collaboratively must be followed through to
implementation. Although collaboration already takes place at the
international level and agreements are regularly made at the annual
COP meetings, they are not always honoured when politicians return
home and are faced with a potential loss of votes when opposed by
those with vested interests who might inhibit or slow down implementation:
“Give me chastity and continence, but not yet”.
Note
80. Policy makers might be hampered also by the scattering of
responsibilities among different agencies, not always transparently
enough to see where those responsibilities have come to lie. The
bunker mentality which characterises institutional and political
life, in which departments are in competition with each other for funding
and influence, inhibits the collaboration which will be required
to combat climate change.
81. All ministries and authorities should be enabled to create
a forum in each country for regular co-operation, learning from
each other, planning, developing mitigation strategies, ensuring
their practical application, and documenting and sharing results.
Departments should shelve their differences in order to work together
with a common purpose, crossing the traditional lines of demarcation
which have tended to stipulate (for example) that the Department
of Culture advises on the protection of built heritage and counsels
against modern replacement windows, while the Department of the
Environment advises on saving heat and costs through installing
double glazing.
82. Cultural heritage in its broadest sense, both tangible and
intangible, is impacted by the actions of many different ministries
and agencies, not just those with “cultural heritage” in their title.
We must therefore highlight the cultural heritage concerns of which
all ministries should be aware since they share a common responsibility. More
narrowly the specific administration relating to cultural heritage
and climate change in most countries is usually the responsibility
of separate institutions, with separate ministries taking the lead
on each.
Note
83. The Heritage Alliance has emphasised the need for strengthening
“collaborative working between environmental regulators and heritage
sector bodies … to understand the vital role heritage has to play
in our response to the changing environment”. The promotion of understanding
and collaboration must be underpinned by a more engaged assessment
approach to the energy demands of historic buildings. If net-zero targets
are to be met within an acceptable timeframe, funding will be required
to enable the retrofitting of historic buildings, carried out by
trained, conservation-skilled contractors.
Note
84. There is strength always in working together, across and between
countries, learning from the experience of others, providing examples
of best practice from which others might benefit, disseminating information
and experimental results, and sharing strategies so as not to waste
resources on solving problems already solved by others: “As a non-renewable
resource of intrinsic importance to our identity, there is a need to
develop more effective and efficient sustainable adaptation and
mitigation strategies in order to preserve these invaluable cultural
assets for the long-term future. More reliable assessments will
lead to better prediction models, which in turn will enable preventive
measures to be taken, thus reducing energy and the use of resources”.
Note
85. Museums have a special role, since notwithstanding an occasional
regrettable tendency in the past in some cases to rely on green-washing
fossil fuel sponsorship, they tend to be trusted institutions, so
they are in a very strong position to speak authoritatively in raising
awareness, ensuring the prominence of cultural heritage in all climate
action mitigation plans. They already help in raising awareness
by publishing their own strategies to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
Such consciousness-raising in tangible form in a trusted museum
might well help to counter the “climate exhaustion” and feelings
of disempowerment felt by many and spur them to make changes in
their own lives.
Note
86. Collaboration to engage the support of the people is crucial.
It has been recommended that the European Commission “must establish
a common European platform for exchange, discussion, expertise and knowledge
sharing about the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage
and the latter’s contributions to the fight against climate change,
providing a central entry point for cultural heritage in times of
climate change”.
Note
87. The Council of Europe is the co-ordinating forum for human
rights in its member States; there is a fundamental symbiosis between
human rights and the protection and celebration of cultural heritage,
as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN, 1948):
“everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life
of the community” (Article 27). This is cited in the Faro Convention
in which the Parties to the Convention agree to “recognise that
rights relating to cultural heritage are inherent in the right to
participate in cultural life, as defined in the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights” (Article 1a). It is here recommended that through
the Parliamentary Assembly the Council of Europe might complement
the European Commission’s platform by convening a forum for discussion,
awareness raising, information-sharing, documentation and promotion
of adaptation and mitigation strategies and actions relating to
cultural heritage and climate change, as a function of human rights,
which will impact in each of the member states.
88. We all have a stake in our cultural heritage, and we are all
adversely affected by the rapid progression of climate change. We
must all respond to it by working together in collaboration, putting
in place participatory and governance models in which civil society
and young people are meaningfully involved, making it easier for people
to know where to go, what to do and how as individuals and collectively
they might contribute towards countering this world-wide crisis.
