Venice at risk of ‘irreversible’ damage, warns UNESCO

Venice, one of Italy’s top tourist destinations, is at risk of ‘irreversible’ damage (Image: Getty) With its canals, romantic architecture and gourmet cuisine, it’s no surprise that Venice is one of Europe’s top tourist destinations. But the popular city is at risk of ‘irreversible’ damage, according to a new report released by UNESCO. The Italian city is under threat from excessive tourism, overdevelopment and rising sea levels caused by climate change. A spokesperson for the Venice municipality said they would ‘carefully read’ the report from UNESCO. However, one of the city’s former mayors has hit back at UNESCO and called it ‘one of the most expensive and useless bodies on the face of the earth’. The Italian city is under threat from excessive tourism (Image: Getty) Massimo Cacciari, who served as mayor of Venice between 1993 and 2000, said: ‘They don’t give us any funding to make changes…all they do is criticise. ‘As if Venice needed UNESCO to be a world heritage site! We need more action and fewer words.’ The former mayor said the city ‘would do best to disregard’ UNESCO’s suggestions in future. Venice was almost put on the danger list two years ago (Image: Getty) Venice was almost put on the danger list two years ago but the Italian Government took some emergency measures to avoid it. This included banning large cruise ships from the city centre which has had a positive impact on pollution. According to research from Transport & Environment, sulfur oxide emissions dropped by 80 percent in Venice since the ban. However, UNESCO has said the city needs to ban other ships which are also a source of pollution. During peak season around 110,000 tourists visit Venice per day which can put pressure on the city’s infrastructure. UNESCO has listed 55 World Heritage sites as being ‘in danger’ while over 200 are being monitored by the agency.