17 November 2004

The impact of climate change on some of the world’s unique and irreplaceable areas will be highlighted tomorrow as petitions from three developing countries are handed in to the World Heritage Committee in Paris.

The petitions ask the Committee urgently to place the Belize Barrier Reef, the Huarascán National Park (Peru) and the Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal) World Heritage Sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger as a result of climate change.

Danger-listing is a legal mechanism under the UNESCO World Heritage Convention requiring an increased level of protection where the best parts of the planet are facing serious and significant threats. State Parties to the Convention have a legal obligation to transmit World Heritage Sites to future generations.

The Belize Barrier Reef was described by Charles Darwin in 1842 as "the most remarkable reef in the West Indies," but the increase in sea temperatures and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have already damaged the Reef and will damage it further. The seven sites comprising the World Heritage Site Reef illustrate the evolutionary history of reef development. It is a natural tropical aquarium rich in coral, with sharks, dolphins and tropical fish, and a significant habitat for threatened species, including marine turtles, manatees and the American marine crocodile. The petitioner is the Belize Institute of Environmental Law and Policy.

Read the petition

Read the press release from the Climate Justice Programme