The UNESCO logo is seen during the opening of the 39th session of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at their headquarters in Paris, France, October 30, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
Stronger international collaboration is needed to protect the world's cultural and natural heritage as climate change and armed conflicts pose unprecedented threats to heritage sites, officials and experts said during the 48th session of the World Heritage Committee.
They also told China Daily that the Global Civilization Initiative, proposed by China in 2023, can help foster dialogue among different cultures.
"It has become extremely important to have international cooperation to face all these large-scale issues," said Alessandro Balsamo, head of the Nominations Unit at the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. No country can tackle such challenges alone without support from the global community, he said.
During the session, which runs through Wednesday in Busan, South Korea, six new sites, including those in South Sudan, Lebanon and Suriname, were added to UNESCO's List of World Heritage in Danger. Three were inscribed on an emergency basis because of major threats from climate change and armed conflict.
