In July 2018, insurers, insurance market bodies and key industry stakeholders from around the world signed the first-ever insurance industry statement to protect World Heritage Sites, articulating a commitment to take action in the following areas as risk managers, insurers and investors:
- Accessing data and understanding best practice
- Raising awareness and supporting widespread action
- Developing and implementing a World Heritage Sites risk approach
- Protecting World Heritage Sites proactively
- Engaging clients and investee companies
Building on the 2018 statement, this first-ever global insurance industry guide, Protecting our World Heritage, Insuring a Sustainable Future, highlights the increasingly important role that the industry needs to play in protecting World Heritage Sites. It explains the risks that insurers face, the role of key actors in the insurance industry, and provides practical tools and a set of basic and advanced recommendations that insurers can implement in their risk management, insurance and investment activities to protect World Heritage Sites, while reducing carbon emissions, building resilience to climate change impacts and tackling biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation.
Critically, the principles of good risk management and sustainability embodied in this guide can also be used for various types of protected areas—from strict nature reserves, wilderness areas, national parks, and natural monuments and features, to habitat/species management areas, protected landscapes and seascapes, and protected areas with sustainable use of natural resources—as well as Ramsar sites, wetlands of international importance. This guide shows that collaboration is essential. It is a result of a partnership between UN Environment’s Principles for Sustainable Insurance Initiative (PSI), WWF, and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Centre.