Por Renan Filho · 2026-10-13
**Lead**
The United Nations has sounded an urgent alarm over the compounding threats of El Niño, widespread hunger and volatile fuel prices, warning that their combined impact could trigger a ‘perfect storm’ that devastates cultural heritage across the globe. In a report released this week, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) jointly highlighted how climate-induced disruptions, food insecurity and energy costs are already forcing communities to abandon centuries-old practices, festivals and livelihoods that form the bedrock of cultural identity.
**Context**
The warning comes as the El Niño weather phenomenon, which began in mid-2023 and is expected to persist into 2024, has already caused severe droughts in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America, while triggering floods in other regions. According to the UN, more than 250 million people are currently facing acute food insecurity, a figure that could rise sharply if El Niño disrupts harvests further. Fuel prices, meanwhile, remain elevated after the global energy crisis, making it harder for rural communities to transport goods, access markets and maintain traditional practices that rely on mobility, such as nomadic herding or seasonal pilgrimages.
UNESCO’s Director-General, Audrey Azoulay, stated that the crisis is not merely economic or environmental but profoundly cultural. “When a community cannot grow its staple crops, when it cannot afford fuel to travel to a sacred site, or when it must abandon a harvest festival because there is nothing to celebrate, the fabric of culture begins to unravel,” she said. The report notes that at least 30 per cent of the world’s intangible cultural heritage elements—such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices and traditional craftsmanship—are directly linked to natural cycles, agricultural calendars and local ecosystems that are now under threat.
In the United Kingdom, the implications are less direct but still significant. British cultural institutions that partner with UNESCO, including museums and universities, have expressed concern that the loss of heritage in vulnerable regions will diminish global cultural diversity and reduce opportunities for cross-cultural exchange. The British Museum, for instance, holds collections from many of the affected areas, and curators warn that the disappearance of living traditions makes it harder to interpret artefacts in their original context.
**Analysis**
The ‘perfect storm’ described by the UN is not a distant possibility but an unfolding reality. In the Horn of Africa, pastoralist communities that have herded cattle for millennia are seeing their way of life collapse as drought kills livestock and fuel costs make it impossible to move herds to better grazing grounds. In the Pacific Islands, rising sea levels exacerbated by El Niño are forcing the abandonment of villages and the loss of traditional navigation knowledge. In parts of Central America, coffee farmers—whose harvest festivals are central to local identity—are abandoning their land as crop yields plummet.
Fuel shortages compound these effects. In many developing nations, the price of petrol or diesel has doubled in the past two years, making it prohibitively expensive for artisans to transport their wares to markets, for dancers to travel to festivals, or for elders to gather for oral storytelling sessions. The UN report cites examples from Mali, where the annual Festival in the Desert—a celebration of Tuareg music and poetry—has been cancelled for three consecutive years partly due to insecurity and fuel costs. Similarly, in Bangladesh, traditional boat races during the monsoon season have been scaled back as communities struggle to afford fuel for the boats.
The cultural dimension of this crisis is often overlooked in policy discussions, which tend to focus on food security and energy prices as purely economic issues. Yet the UN argues that cultural heritage is a fundamental human right and a resource for resilience. “When people lose their culture, they lose their sense of belonging and their ability to cope with adversity,” said David Beasley, Executive Director of the WFP, in a joint statement. “Hunger and fuel poverty are not just statistics; they are forces that erase identities.”
For the UK, the warning serves as a reminder that cultural heritage is a global public good. British foreign aid programmes, such as the Cultural Protection Fund administered by the British Council, have already begun to redirect resources towards communities hit by El Niño. However, the scale of the challenge far exceeds current funding. The UN estimates that preserving intangible heritage in the most vulnerable regions would require an additional $500 million annually—a fraction of what is spent on military or infrastructure projects, but still a significant ask for donor nations facing their own cost-of-living crises.
**Fontes**
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “Intangible Cultural Heritage and Climate Change: A Perfect Storm,” October 2026. - World Food Programme (WFP), “Hunger Hotspots: El Niño and the Risk of Famine,” October 2026. - British Museum, statement on cultural heritage and climate displacement, October 2026. - British Council, Cultural Protection Fund annual report, 2025. - Reuters, “El Niño expected to last until mid-2024, UN weather agency says,” July 2023. - The Guardian, “Fuel prices push traditional festivals to brink of extinction,” September 2025.