Events

UNFCCC COP21 side event: Building resilience to climate change in mountain communities

Paris, France

From: 11.12.2015 to: 11.12.2015

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat, Government of Lesotho, The Mountain Institute and Colorado State University are holding a side event during the 21^st session of the Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on International Mountain Day, 11 December, at 13:15 - 14:45 in Observer Room 04.

Agenda:

Chair – Grammenos Mastrojeni, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy

•   Opening remarks by chair (10 minutes): Celebration of Mountains – all they give us and the challenges they face
Speakers:

•   “Celebrating Mountain Day” Martin Frick - FAO

•   “Vulnerability & Adaptation for Mountain Communities of Lesotho” Mosuoe Letuma - Ministry Of Energy & Meteorology of Lesotho

•   “Building Resilience and Adapting to Climate Change in the Kyrgyz Republic” Zuhra Abaihanova - Director of Climate Change Centre of Kyrgyzstan

•   “Andes, bofedales and castles. Coupled natural human systems in the high Andes” Gillian Bowser - Colorado State University, USA

•   Mayor of Aspen, Colorado – tbc

•   “Goals, accomplishments and lessons-learned from Ecosystem Based Adaptation Mountain program” Edmund Barrow - IUCN

Closing Remarks - Chair

How can the Mountain Partnership bolster resilience to climate change in mountain regions? This side event will focus on the nexus of food security, water and gender, considering national policies and local solutions.

Understanding how climate change affects mountains is vital as governments and international organizations develop strategies to reverse current global warming trends. Because of their altitude, slope and orientation to the sun, mountain ecosystems are easily disrupted by variations in climate. Many scientists believe that the changes occurring in mountain ecosystems may provide an early glimpse of what could come to pass in lowland environments.

The main objective of the annual COP is for the 195 State Parties to review the Convention’s implementation. COP21, also known as the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, aims to achieve a new international agreement on climate, applicable to all countries, that keeps global warming below 2°C.

Read more about the UNFCCC