UNESCO: Venice at risk
Alarm signal for Venice. The United Nations agency for education, science and culture says the lagoon city should be included on the list of World Heritage in Danger. Officials say climate change and mass tourism risk irreversible damage to the legendary Italian city. The proposal will have to be voted on by member countries of the UN agency in September in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
According to the UNESCO report, the iconic city risks "irreversible" damage from overwhelming tourism, overdevelopment and rising sea levels due to climate change. Venice - which is surrounded by water - is highly vulnerable to flooding. Accelerated global warming and the sheer number of tourists invading the city are taking their toll every day. 28 million people visit Venice every year. And the boom in short-term rentals is reducing the availability of housing for residents and driving up the price of rent, without the local government being able to intervene. The UNESCO report accuses the Italian authorities of a "lack of strategic vision" to tackle the problems facing one of Italy's most picturesque cities. A citizens' association plans to present a bill to the Rome parliament that could fill the current legislative gap.
"We must have the courage to make those profound structural changes, such as those that our association has been proposing for months and that the City Council still won't accept. The bill will soon reach Parliament and from there we will try to implement those changes that the City Council still doesn't have the courage to tackle", said "Welcome Venice" author Andrea Segre.
The UN agency aims to encourage better conservation of the site for the future. UNESCO experts wanted to declare the lagoon city at risk as early as 2021. But Italy has prevented this decision by banning large cruise ships from entering the bay, or the San Marco and Giudecca canals. However, the decree has not yet come into force because a centre for cruise ships has yet to be built outside the lagoon.
