The IHBC is delighted to join signatories to the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) Call to Action to put ‘Culture at the Heart of Climate Action’, asking the UNFCCC to include cultural heritage, the arts and creative sectors in climate policy.
…a UN process which would trigger policies and frameworks to enable culture to contribute fully to climate solution…
IHBC Chair David McDonald said: ‘I am pleased that the IHBC is supporting this initiative by the Climate Heritage Network.’
‘It will not only continue our positive relationship with previous COP events but also strengthen our links with the arts and creative sectors.’
CHN writes:
… We’re writing to invite you to join us.
Culture from arts to heritage has the power to help people imagine and realise low-carbon, just, climate resilient futures. Across the world, cultural voices have been working to unlock this power — but a persistent lack of recognition for this work in climate policy undermines our vital contribution and ultimately the effectiveness of global climate action itself.
The Global Call campaign aims to shift this paradigm by calling on the national governments that make up the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to adopt a ground-breaking Joint Work Decision on Culture and Climate Action (JWD).
The Joint Work approach is a UN process which would trigger policies and frameworks to enable culture to contribute fully to climate solutions. It would pave the way to the subsequent adoption of a new UN work plan on culture, heritage, and climate action.
Science tells us that global climate action is currently not on track. Attention to culture and heritage has the potential to help get it back on track. The Joint Work Decision approach presents the best chance we have ever had to do this – but to make it happen, we need your help.
To indicate your support for this crucial outcome for people, their cultures and heritage and the planet, join the Global Call to Put Cultural Heritage, Arts and Creative Sectors at the Heart of Climate Action.
Our aim is for national governments to consider this topic when they meet at the 2023 UN Climate Conference (COP28) to be held in Dubai, UAE from 30 November to 12 December. COP28 is only one month away so please add your voice to the Global Call today.
CHN writes in the ‘Global Call…’
Artists and cultural voices from across the world are uniting to call for climate negotiators at COP28 UN Climate Conference to put cultural heritage, arts and creative industries at the heart of climate action.
We are asking for a ground-breaking ‘Joint Work Decision on Culture and Climate Action’, a UN process which would trigger policies and frameworks to enable culture to contribute fully to climate solutions.
Culture is a powerful force that shapes all of our lives, wherever we are in the world. Yet in spite of its potential, culture has not been integrated into climate policy and planning. Culture-led solutions that are inclusive, local as well as global, and focused on people and nature are already abundant.
Cultural heritage, including traditional knowledge, strengthens resilience, helps communities to adapt to climate impacts, protects places, and offers green, circular and regenerative solutions. The arts speak to hearts and minds, inspiring action and helping us to understand climate change through storytelling and shared experiences. The creative industries – design, music, fashion and film – shape our lifestyles, tastes and consumption patterns.
To strengthen global climate action, we must urgently harness the extraordinary potential of cultural heritage, arts and creative sectors to help people imagine and realise low-carbon, just, climate resilient futures.
Why a Joint Work Decision?
A Joint Work Decision would launch a process to:
- Understand how culture – heritage, arts and creative sectors – is already supporting climate actions and solutions
- Harness cultural voices to influence audiences and consumers
- Unite the entire culture sector globally to scale up action on the most pressing issue of our time
- Influence key policies and discussions on adapting to our changing climate, decarbonising, supporting cultural knowledge keepers, safeguarding heritage and culture, and innovating with our creativity
If you recognise culture as an indispensable pillar of climate action, sign up to support the campaign, and share it with your networks and communities.
See details at https://www.climateheritage.org/jwd
Sign up HERE
