Policy workshop sets ground for a regional assessment of adaptation responses for the Hindu Kush Himalaya
Kathmandu, Nepal 3 February 2017 – As the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) is one of the fastest warming and most vulnerable regions on Earth to climate change, implementing adaptation measures that target these mountains and downstream areas is crucial. But to what extent are existing national and sectoral adaptation policies relevant to the HKH, and where can they be strengthened? This has been the focus of a two-day workshop, entitled ‘Regional Policy Workshop on Adaptation Outlook for the Hindu Kush Himalaya,’ which concluded today at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, Nepal.
To address this issue, the workshop – jointly organised by ICIMOD, the UN Environment Programme (UN Environment) and GRID-Arendal – brought together policy and research experts who focus on climate change and mountain ecosystems in the HKH and beyond.
The workshop focused on building a foundation for assessing region-wide risk and vulnerability to climate hazards, and the existing adaptation policies and measures. By identifying policy gaps as well as opportunities, the findings of the workshop will provide decision makers with much-needed knowledge to meet current and future challenges from climate change and other drivers.
Over the last two days, participants reviewed and provided feedback on a background document entitled, ‘Key Climate Risks and Adaptation Policies and Actions for the Hindu Kush Himalaya’. Government representatives shared their views on national adaptation approaches for mountain ecosystems coping with climate change. These discussions will lead to the development of a report titled, “Outlook on Climate Change Adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Mountains,” which will be part of a UN Environment’s Mountain Adaptation Outlook series.
“We have a very important job in the days ahead,” said David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, told the gathering. “It is a very special thing that we have come from so many different countries to bring our minds together on the issue of adaptation. We hope this can be the foundation for more regional cooperation on this issue, because regional cooperation is paramount to securing the future of mountains and mountain people.”
“ICIMOD together with its partners brings tremendous knowledge on adaptation across the region” said Yubak Dhoj GC, Secretary, Ministry of Livestock Development, Government of Nepal. “The assessment of adaptation practices in the region is very much important for overall adaptation planning in the countries, and also for cross border learning”.
The ICIMOD-led assessment for the eight HKH countries focuses on the mountain range shared by over 1.3 billion people from Afghanistan to Myanmar. This assessment is the sixth in the series of Regional Mountain Adaptation Outlooks under development by UN Environment, GRID-Arendal and other regional mountain centres of excellence. The Adaptation Outlook series uses a common methodology across global mountain regions to facilitate comparison and knowledge exchange among these groups.
"Mountain areas across the Hindu Kush Himalaya face many of the same threats from climate change,” said Mozaharul Alam, the Regional Climate Change Coordinator for UN Environment. “Sharing of experiences and cooperation between the eight countries will therefore mutually increase their adaptive capacity. The HKH Partnership launched during UN Environment Assembly is a key platform to bring policy makers across the region together for improved coordination and exchange of experience.”
The Outlook on Climate Change Adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, is proposed to launch at the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) at the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn, Germany.
For more information please contact:
Nira Gurung
Senior Communications Officer, ICIMOD
Email: nira.gurung@icimod.org; Tel: 5003222 Ext 115
Nand Kishor Agrawal
Programme Coordinator – HICAP, ICIMOD
Email: nandkishor.agrawal@icimod.org; Tel: 5003222 Ext 228
Matthias Jurek
Programme Management Officer
UN Environment, Europe Office, Vienna Programme Office
Email: matthias.jurek@unvienna.org
Tina Schoolmeester
Project Manager
Polar and Mountain Environments Programme
GRID-Arendal, Norway
Email: tina.schoolmeester@grida.no
Notes to Editors
ICIMOD
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a regional knowledge development and learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Globalization and climate change have an increasing influence on the stability of fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain people. ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people to understand these changes, adapt to them, and make the most of new opportunities, while addressing upstream and downstream issues. ICIMOD supports regional transboundary programmes through partnerships with regional partner institutions, facilitates the exchange of experiences, and serves as a regional knowledge hub. We strengthen networking among regional and global centres of excellence. Overall, we are working to develop economically and environmentally-sound mountain ecosystems to improve the living standards of mountain populations and to sustain vital ecosystem services for the billions of people living downstream – now and in the future.
UN Environment
The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. Together with its collaborating centres and partners, UN Environment works across a range of mountain issues, which cover climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ecosystem management, environmental governance, and chemicals, waste and resource efficiency. It works at the global, regional, national and local levels. At the international level, UN Environment is a strong advocate for action on mountains, including within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and through efforts to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the regional level, UN Environment brings governments together to work on mountain issues that transcend national borders. It also advises governments on mountain-specific policies, and work with local communities to implement and test innovative technologies and approaches to manage mountain resources. For example, UN Environment has also led the successful project on Ecosystem-based Adaptation in mountain regions that was implemented in Nepal, Peru and Uganda, financed by BMUB, Germany.
The HKH assessment forms part of the series of Adaptation Outlooks (“Mountain Adaptation Outlook Series”) for mountain regions, provided by UN Environment, GRID-Arendal and Regional Mountain Centres of excellence. Respective assessments have been undertaken for Balkans/Dinaric Arc, (East) Africa, Andes, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus, through the UN Environment project “Climate change action in developing countries with fragile mountainous ecosystems from a sub-regional perspective” funded by the Government of Austria.
GRID-Arendal
GRID-Arendal is a centre collaborating with UN Environment, supporting informed decision making and awareness-raising through: Environmental information management and assessment, capacity building services as well as, communication tools, methodologies and products. The mission of GRID-Arendal, is to create environmental knowledge enabling positive change. This is achieved by organizing and transforming available environmental data into credible, science-based information products, delivered through innovative communication tools and capacity-building services targeting relevant stakeholders. GRID-Arendal through its Polar and Mountain Environments programme is working in a range regions, including the Hindu Kush Himalayas, on topics such as adaptation to climate change, water and food security. For the Himalayas, recent and current work includes the ‘Himalayan Climate Change Adaptation Programme’ (HICAP), in cooperation with ICIMOD and CICERO, and publications such as ‘The Last Straw? The additional burden of climate change on food security in the Himalaya’, and The Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas: Impact of Climate Change on Water Resources in five of Asia's Major River Basins.
