COP 30: Cultural Heritage Based Climate Action in the Built Environment
Date: 11/13/2025
Hour: 17:00-17:45
Venue: Pavilhão Cidades Resilientes – Blue Zone
Organizers: International Union of Architects (UIA), World Monuments Fund (WMF), International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and Climate Heritage Network (CHN)
Painelists:
- Meredith Wiggins (WMF)
- Ave Paulus (ICOMOS)
- Lori Ferriss (CHN)
Moderation: Lori Ferriss (CHN)
Ave Paulus is a leading expert on cultural heritage and climate action. She serves as the focal point for the ICOMOS Climate Action Working Group and President of ICOMOS Estonia. She has worked over 20 years in the Environmental Board of Estonia as a cultural heritage specialist. She is an expert member of the UNESCO panel of experts on Climate Change and World Heritage and EU OMC Group “Cultural Heritage Resilience for Climate Change”the IPCC’s Seventh Assessment Report (AR7). Her work focuses on traditional knowledge and rights-based heritage management in the face of climate change.
Meredith Wiggins: Dr. Meredith Wiggins is an archaeologist and project manager who works at the nexus of climate and culture; currently serving as World Monuments Fund’s Senior Director of Climate Adaptation. She joined World Monuments Fund from the field of international development, where spent five years designing and implementing climate mitigation and adaptation projects for USAID and MCC. Before that, she spent 16 years in the UK, working for Historic England and English Heritage in the areas of research, urban planning, and heritage protection. Dr. Wiggins currently runs a global WMF program entitled Cultivating Resilience, which focuses on risk assessment and adaptation in biocultural landscapes. She also acts as WMF’s Focal Point for the Group of Friends of Culture-Based Climate Action and is Focal Point for WMF in their role as part of COP30’s Activation Group 19: Culture, Cultural Heritage, and Climate Action.
Lori Ferriss, AIA, PE is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Built Buildings Lab, a Senior Fellow of Architecture 2030, and a Steering Committee member of the Climate Heritage Network. An internationally recognized expert, Lori works at the intersection of climate action and cultural heritage. Her award-winning work as an architect, structural engineer, and preservationist blends policy development with technical expertise to position the built environment as a climate solution. Lori co-developed Architecture 2030’s CARE Tool, estimating carbon benefits of building reuse. She is the past Chair of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment and is an expert member of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Energy and Sustainability.
