Busan to host 48th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee

• The UNESCO World Heritage Committee will hold its 48th session in South Korea’s Busan from July 20 to 29.

• It will examine nominations for the inscription of 30 new sites on the World Heritage List, as well as proposals concerning three sites already on the List. 

• India has nominated the Ancient Buddhist Site, Sarnath near Varanasi for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List for the 2025-2026 cycle.

• To date, the World Heritage Committee has inscribed 1,248 sites in 170 countries on the World Heritage List. 

• India currently has 44 properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

What is a World Heritage Site?

• The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. 

• This is embodied in an international treaty called the ‘Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage’, adopted by UNESCO in 1972.

• A World Heritage Site is a place having a special cultural or physical significance and outstanding universal value to humanity. It may be a building, a city, a complex, a desert, a forest, an island, a lake, a monument or a mountain.

• Sites recognised as being of Outstanding Universal Value are inscribed each year on the World Heritage List.

• To be included on the World Heritage List, sites must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. These criteria are regularly revised by the Committee to reflect the evolution of the World Heritage concept itself.

• UNESCO World Heritage status recognises and protects sites of outstanding universal value — whether natural, cultural, or mixed — for present and future generations. 

• It urges Member States to preserve these iconic sites while promoting their sustainable management, restoration and intact transmission over time. 

• This designation plays a major role in the development of responsible tourism by stimulating local economies and in raising public awareness of the importance of cultural diversity.

Who lists World Heritage Sites?

• The International World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee establishes the sites to be listed as World Heritage Sites.

• ICOMOS assisted UNESCO in writing the Convention text, in which it was appointed advisory body to the World Heritage Committee. Its role is to support the implementation of the cultural side of the Convention.

• The France-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is an international non-governmental organisation that comprises professionals, experts, representatives from local authorities, companies and heritage organisations, and is dedicated to the conservation and enhancement of architectural and landscape heritage around the world.

• The World Heritage Committee defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties. 

• It has the final say on whether a property is inscribed on the World Heritage List. 

• The Committee consists of representatives from 21 of the States Parties to the Convention elected by their General Assembly.

• It examines reports on the state of conservation of inscribed properties and asks States Parties to take action when properties are not being properly managed. 

• It also decides on the inscription or deletion of properties on the List of World Heritage in Danger.