Interfaculty cooperation at the intersection of cultural heritage and climate change
Dr Gül Aktürk Hauser (Assistant Professor, Department of Heritage and Society, Faculty of Archaeology) and Dr Sophie Starrenburg (Assistant Professor, Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Leiden Law School) organised a workshop titled ‘An Interdisciplinary Perspective on Heritage Reparations: Responding to Climate Change-Induced Damages’, on 16 May 2025.
The workshop brought together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners to examine the pressing and often overlooked issue of how the cultural heritage sector should respond to the loss and damage caused by climate change. While cultural heritage is increasingly acknowledged in climate change policy and discussions, the aftermath of such damage – particularly the complex question of reparations –remains unexplored. This workshop sought to fill that gap.
The sessions critically engaged with the multifaceted nature of cultural heritage loss and the potential avenues for reparative action. Presenters shared case studies from countries such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, Suriname, Senegal, and the Netherlands, covering the full spectrum of heritage – from movable to immovable, and from tangible to intangible. These examples underscored the diverse ways in which climate change threatens heritage globally, revealing that ‘damage’ is not a universal concept: what one community may perceive as heritage loss, another may interpret as renewal or transformation. This diversity in perspectives complicates efforts to establish global standards for addressing heritage loss in the context of climate change.
Another key takeaway from the discussions was the inadequacy of existing international law and governance frameworks in addressing the unique challenges that climate impacts pose for cultural heritage. Presenters explored a range of possible pathways for responding to climate change damages to heritage, including UNESCO’s cultural heritage treaties, the Loss and Damage mechanism under the Paris Agreement, human rights litigation, and the laws on state responsibility. A recurring theme was the difficulty of fitting heritage-related harms – many of which are non-economic – into existing legal and financial compensation frameworks. In some cases, damage may not be able to be compensated at all – a point which raises fundamental questions in the context of equitable climate justice solutions. Even when damages can be quantified, challenges remain in determining who should bear responsibility and how affected communities can seek redress under international law.
The workshop was made possible with the support of the Leiden University Fund, the Department of Heritage and Society, and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies.