Minister Cuffe openeed the International Council on Monuments and Sites Symposium - Changing World, Changing Views of Heritage: The Impact of Global Change on Cultural Heritage on Saturday, 30 October 2010 in Dublin Castle Conference Centre.

"Social change has had a significant influence on our heritage and will continue to do so. Some of this influence has been positive and some negative. ICOMOS is setting out the possible contribution it could make in addressing the various challenges and in bringing forward possible initiatives and collaborations. I applaud you for your work in grappling with this issue.

I know that ICOMOS is an advisory body to UNESCO on matters relating to world heritage. As you are aware Ireland has two properties on the World Heritage List. Over the next decade, we hope to bring forward further nominations to the World Heritage List from our new Tentative List. This list was announced by my colleague, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley T.D., in April and noted by the World Heritage Committee at its meeting in Brasilia earlier this year. I understand that you have received Ireland’s world heritage brochure. I am sure you will agree that the photographs in the brochure of Ireland’s world heritage properties and the properties on the Tentative List provide an impressive display of Ireland’s rich and varied heritage.

Over the last few years, Ireland has strengthened its links with UNESCO and the World Heritage Centre. For example, last year, we hosted a follow up meeting on world heritage periodic reporting in Western Europe to take stock of progress to date. I note that you are to have a presentation today on Conserving the Lalibela World Heritage Site in Ethiopia. Ireland has provided funding for this project.

World Heritage designation is important in terms of the conservation and presentation of properties of outstanding universal value or OUV. World Heritage Sites are also a means to stimulate economic development. I believe that tourism needs, local community benefits and conservation can co-exist in harmony. It is important to get the balance right. The International Cultural Tourism Charter of ICOMOS provides a framework for assisting in doing so. It sets out key principles to guide the dynamic relationships between tourism and heritage.

Last year, Minister Gormley launched the Government Policy on Architecture 2009-2015 Towards a Sustainable Future: Delivering Quality within the Built Environment and I believe that you have received a complementary copy of this publication. The Policy provides the appropriate framework for architectural policy in Ireland over the next 6 years. This Policy, under my remit, places an emphasis on sustainable development of the environment and urban design, encourages and supports high quality modern architecture, and incorporates architectural heritage in a holistic, integrated manner.  The Policy complements and supports the Government’s wider economic strategy “Building Ireland’s Smart Economy: A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal” in areas such as research, green enterprise and the development of efficient and sustainable technologies for the built environment. 

Under the Government Policy on Architecture, research is required into the specific effects of a changing climate on Irish buildings and on our traditional building materials and construction methods. In line with the Policy, next week, Minister Gormley will be launching an advice series booklet Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings with booklets on the Repair of Roofs and the Repair of Ruins. This series of booklets produced by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is designed to guide owners and occupiers of historic buildings on how best to protect their properties and consequently Ireland's architectural heritage.  Particularly and of specific focus is The Energy Efficiency in Traditional Buildings booklet which explores ways of improving energy efficiency while maintaining architectural character and significance, which you will agree here today is one of the foremost challenges facing our cultural heritage.

One of the themes of this scientific symposium is The Social Impacts of Global Climate Change.  I thought that it would be useful to give you a brief outline of Ireland’s climate change policy. The National Climate Change Strategy 2007-12 is the centre piece of our national policy and it sets out a target-based approach to comply with our EU requirements for the purposes of the Kyoto Protocol. 

Our Environmental Protection Agency has published its provisional estimates of greenhouse gas emissions for 2009 and has reported a significant decrease in Ireland's emissions.  Carbon emissions decreased across all sectors in 2009 due to the effects of the economic downturn. Ireland is on track to meet its Kyoto commitments but we must not take our eye off the ball.

The challenge facing us now is to use the opportunity to embed fundamental emission reductions in the economy in order to meet the very stringent EU 2020 limits which we face and to move permanently to a low carbon economy.  We cannot rely on a recession to meet our future targets.

In December last, Minister Gormley issued a Framework for the Climate Change Bill 2010. The Bill will, among other things, set the context for our national transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, environmentally sustainable and climate resilient economy and society.

The General Scheme of the Bill is currently being drafted.  Following approval by Government, this scheme will provide the basis for full stakeholder consultation on the proposed provisions of the Bill.

In parallel, work is underway on developing national policy on climate change adaptation with a view to publishing a framework on adaptation in the near future.

As a research report, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government commissioned ICOMOS Ireland to provide recommendations on monitoring solutions for the impacts of climate change on the built heritage, in particular, at Ireland’s World Heritage Site Brú na Bóinne and at a property on our Tentative List, Clonmacnoise. The Department has been in discussion with Met Eireann (the Irish Weather Service) and the Office of Public Works, which has responsibility for the management of both properties, as to how the recommendations contained in ICOMOS’s report might be implemented. This project provides a good framework, as a test case, for the measurement and monitoring of the effects of climate change on the built heritage from a practical perspective."