World Heritage and Sustainable Development

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC-14/38.COM/5D,
2. Recalling Decisions 35 COM 5E and 36 COM 5C, adopted at its 35th (UNESCO, 2011) and 36th (Saint-Petersburg, 2012) sessions respectively,
3. Welcomes the progress made towards the development of a draft policy for integrating a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention, despite the lack of resources;
4. Acknowledges the eight key dimensions of sustainable development, namely Inclusive Economic Development, Environmental Sustainability, Peace and Security, Resilience/Disaster Risk Reduction, Gender Equality, Local Communities/Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights;
5. Acknowledges the significance of developing a policy which would emphasize the link between World Heritage and sustainable development in conjunction with the upcoming establishment of the UN post-2015 development agenda;
6. Endorses the proposed methodology for developing the draft policy for integrating a sustainable development perspective into the processes of the World Heritage Convention;
7. Recognizes however, that broader consultations should be conducted in the drafting process of the policy and that adequate financial resources should be mobilized in this regard;
8. Strongly encourages all States Parties, other potential donors and partner institutions to provide financial or in-kind support for the successful completion of this initiative;
9. Requests the World Heritage Centre along with the Advisory Bodies, if feasible, within the available resources, to submit a draft of the policy for examination by the Committee at its 39th session, in 2015.