UN adopts three targets on mountains
25.09.2015
On 25 September 2015, 193 Member States of the United Nations (UN) adopted the new international sustainable development agenda, which includes mountain - related targets as part of the world pursuit of global prosperity while ensuring the planet’s wellbeing. Gathered at UN Headquarters in New York, most delegations were represented at the highest level - with 160 heads of state or government in attendance.
Succeeding the Millennium Development Goals when they expire at the end of 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals, which are part of the Post-2015 development agenda, are aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, promoting social justice and ensuring sustainable development by 2030. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) are to be reached by pursuing 169 targets, that provide an integrated and ambitious framework centred on people, planet and prosperity.
Three of the targets explicitly mention mountains, recognizing the vital role of mountain ecosystems for sustainable development. The mountain-related targets are:
Target 6.6
By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes
Target 15.1
By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
Target 15.4
By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development
“We are pleased to have been part of advocating for the three mountain-specific targets, which can largely be attributed to the efforts of the MP. We saw strong collaboration to ensure that mountain communities are included in the new development agenda,” said MPS Coordinator Thomas Hofer. The MPS and MP members held side events during UN Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals sessions, International Mountain Day celebrations and other meetings to express the need to specifically include mountains in the SDGs over the two years in which they were drafted and negotiated at UN headquarters in New York, USA.
“The Post-2015 development agenda and the targets on mountains, in particular, provide great opportunity for governments to better integrate sustainable mountain development into their national planning,” said Rosalaura Romeo, MPS Programme Officer, who is part of the team promoting a tool to monitor the progress of the three mountain-related targets.
Given their inaccessibility, challenging terrain, harsh climates and economic and political marginalization, many of the world’s mountain areas are afflicted by poverty. A recent study led by the MPS shows that one in three people who live in the mountains may not have enough food to eat and that mountain populations are more vulnerable to food insecurity now than they were 15 years ago.
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Photo: UN.org
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