Venice is at risk of "irreversible damage", UNESCO has said.
Venice should be added to a list of heritage sites in danger across the world, United Nations cultural agency has warned. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said in a report that the Italian city is at risk of "irreversible damage" from overwhelming tourism, overdevelopment and rising sea levels due to climate change. It also called on the Italian government to "ensure the utmost dedication" to address "long-standing problems" in Venice. The city is among the 1,157 places designated as world heritage site by UNESCO.
At a meeting in Riyadh in September, a committee of 21 UNESCO member states will review more than 200 of these sites and decide which to add to the danger list.
"Resolution of long-standing but urgent issues is hindered by a lack of overall joint strategic vision for the longterm preservation of the property and low effectiveness of integrated coordinated management at all stakeholder levels," the UN agency said about Venice.
UNESCO also said that corrective measures proposed by the Italian state are "currently insufficient and not detailed enough." It added that Italy "has not been communicating in a sustained and substantive manner" since its last Committee session in 2021, when UNESCO had already threatened to blacklist Venice.
Other sites recommended to be put on the danger list this year are the cities of Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the Venice municipality told news agency Reuters that the city "will carefully read the proposed decision published by the Center for UNESCO's World Heritage Committee and will discuss it with the government".
Venice, known for its canals and cultural sites, has been struggling with mass tourism for years. On a single day during the 2019 Carnival, some 193,000 people squeezed into the historic centre. Venice has been preparing to introduce a fee for day-trippers to control visitor numbers, but has been delayed by objections.