edition
Ar Es
Al Mayadeen English
  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. MENA Europe
  4. 'In 100 years, all these antiquities will be gone': Egypt
MENA

'In 100 years, all these antiquities will be gone': Egypt

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Art Newspaper
  • 5 Nov 2022 14:48
  • 2 Shares

As the latest UN Climate Change Conference begins in Egypt, climate change is destined to hit art institutions on one way or another.

  • Activists hang protest banner on the Sphinx outside the Egyptian Museum in Italy. Source: Stefano Guidi/ Getty Images
    Activists hang protest banner on the Sphinx outside the Egyptian Museum in Italy. (Getty Images)

The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP27, begins on November 6 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Never before has a COP summit been held in a country so inextricably linked to ancient monuments, from the pyramids to the Sphinx and Tutankhamun's tomb, all of which face escalating risks from harsher weather, hotter temperatures, and rising seas.

Egypt's Former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, Zahi Hawass, said that practically all open-air archaeological monuments in Egypt are in grave danger.

"In my opinion, all of these antiquities will be gone in 100 years due to climate change," he warned.

Delegates at COP27 will debate whether museums should abandon their historic posture of "climate neutrality" in favor of climate action. Is the argument, however, still necessary?

Read next: Drought reveals ruins of 3,400-year-old lost city in Iraq

The American Alliance of Museums commissioned research in 2021 that revealed museums to be the second most trusted source behind friends and family, and far ahead of scientists, NGOs, the media, the government, and businesses. Should this trust bank be used for the common good?

Robert Janes is a researcher at Leicester's School of Museum Studies and was the editor-in-chief of the Museum Management and Curatorship journal from 2003 to 2014. He writes for the online journal The Beam, “Why is the global museum community not confronting climate change with its collective will and intelligence? One explanation is that climate change is a taboo subject—not to be talked about with family, friends, and colleagues.”

This taboo must be demolished. “Radical changes are needed across society to ensure global heating remains below 1.5°C,” said Rodney Harrison, the professor of heritage studies at University College London.

Read next: Egypt hopes geopolitics won't hinder UN Climate Change Conference

"Museums could play a leading role in these transformations, but they can only do so if they make significant changes to the way they operate and communicate.”

“The frustrating thing is—this is all already agreed,” says Henry McGhie, founder of climate consultancy Curating Tomorrow. “The governments of all the countries that are party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC] and Paris Agreement already recognize this. They have adopted a new program, but this doesn’t seem to have bled down to the workings of many museums. We have a golden opportunity to act on climate change as a sector, but we’re not making use of it.”

In addition to the COP summits, the UN hosted Mondiacult (the Unesco World Conference on Cultural Policies and Sustainable Development) in Mexico City this September. It was held 40 years after the inaugural Mondiacult conference and was solely focused on UNESCO's cultural policy and how it connects to globally approved sustainable development and climate change policies.

  • United Nations
  • Climate change
  • Egypt
  • COP27

Trending Now

All
The beverage manufacturer is an official sponsor of COP27 (LinkedIn)

Coca-Cola faces outrage over sponsorship of COP27 climate conference

Most Read

Is this Western war on Russia simply stupidity?

Is this Western war on Russia simply stupidity?

  • Opinion
  • 22 Jan
Nurse taking care of the 16lb baby measuring 2ft long born in Brazil. (Facebook)

16lb baby measuring 2ft long is born in Brazil

  • US & Canada
  • 21 Jan
Warsaw takes to streets to protest Poland involvement in Ukraine war

Hundreds protest Poland involvement in Ukraine war in Warsaw

  • Europe
  • 21 Jan
The Russian-manufactured Marker 2 tank-striker (Military Review)

Russia reveals Marker 2 combat robots

  • Europe
  • 26 Jan

Read this

All
Twitter headquarters is shown in San Francisco on Nov. 4, 2022 (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
US & Canada

FBI created dashboard to mislabel Twitter users as Russian bots

  • 27 Jan
Rich EU consumers 'outsource' environmental impact to poorer neighbors
Europe

Rich EU consumers 'outsource' environmental impact to poorer neighbors

  • Today
German soldiers stand at a Leopard tank during a visit of Governor Hendrick Wuest at the army base Field Marshal Rommel Barracks in Augustdorf, Germany, Wednesday, March 30, 2022 (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
Europe

$100 billion not enough to modernize armed forces: German MoD

  • 27 Jan
Brazil allows Iranian ships to dock amid US concerns over Panama Canal
Latin America

Brazil allows Iranian ships to dock amid US concerns over Panama Canal

  • 27 Jan
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS