Developing Climate Risk Assessments for World Heritage: the Climate Vulnerability Index

Abstract

Climate change is recognised by ICOMOS and the IUCN as the fastest growing threat to World Heritage (WH) properties. The Climate Vulnerability Index (CVI) was first piloted at the Natural WH property of Shark Bay, Western Australia, in 2018; the first application to a Cultural WH property took place in April 2019 at the Heart of Neolithic Orkney in Scotland. This article outlines the results of the Orkney workshop together with one for Edinburgh conducted in May-June 2021 and looks at the benefits of the CVI assessment process.