UNESCO World Heritage Committee Adopts Busan Declaration on Stronger International Cooperation

The 48th session of the World Heritage Committee opened earlier that day at the Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, 330 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Top UNESCO officials called for urgent global cooperation to protect cultural and natural heritage from climate change and armed conflicts during a press conference in Busan on July 20.

Nayef Al-Fayez, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture, said fulfilling responsibility to protect heritage sites is not the task of governments alone but also of those living, working, and visiting the sites. He stressed the need to prioritize preventive measures over post-disaster repairs, though funding and coordination details were not specified.

Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center, stated that global heritage faces unprecedented strain from extreme weather, natural disasters, deliberate attacks, and human pressures. He said the committee meeting in Busan has a decisive role in shaping the international community's position and should serve as a catalyst for global awakening.

The committee unanimously adopted the Busan Declaration on World Heritage earlier in the day. The declaration calls for stronger international cooperation to tackle threats to cultural and natural heritage worldwide. Assomo described it as a message that the international community should reinforce heritage protection rather than stop protecting it.

This year's session is the first World Heritage Committee meeting hosted by South Korea since it joined the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1988. The 10-day session is scheduled to run until July 29.