UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres calls on mountain countries to take bold action on climate change mitigation and adaption
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Mountains and climate change
Human activities are profoundly affecting the world’s climate, and mountains are a sensitive indicator of that effect. 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.
As the world heats up, mountain glaciers are melting at unprecedented rates, while rare plants and animals struggle to survive over ever diminishing areas, and mountain peoples, already among the world’s poorest citizens, face even greater hardships.
Changes in the volume of mountain glaciers and in their seasonal melting patterns have an impact on water resources in many parts of the world. Changes in water availability due to climate change are taking place at a time when pressure on water resources for irrigation and food production, industrialization and urbanization is increasing.
Understanding how climate change affects mountains is vital as governments and international organizations develop strategies to reverse current global warming trends, elaborating treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In addition, local community empowerment can be an essential step towards building climate change resilience in mountains.
United Nations General Assembly Resolution: Sustainable Mountain Development (2016)publicationResolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Sustainable mountain development at 71st Session. A/71/463/Add.10
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Call for abstracts: Mt Kilimanjaro conferencenewsAfroMont, the African chapter of the international Mountain Research Initiative, invites researchers working on African mountains to submit abstracts for the upcoming Mount Kilimanjaro Mountain Research Conference. The conference theme is "African mountain ecosystems under global change: linking biodiversity, biotic interactions and biogeochemical ecosystem processes". Abstracts may be...
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Online mountain assessment tool launchedpeak to peakIssue 100 – Month 1 – Year 2017 The January issue of Peak to Peak presents the launch of a new online tool that facilitates international and cross-disciplinary collaboration on the assessment, conservation and sustainable use of mountain biodiversity. The newsletter continues with a call to highlight... Download » |
Incentivizing Mountain Communities for Ecosystem Services in a Changing ClimateeventThe International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and partners will host a special session on incentivizing mountain communities for ecosystem services in the context of a changing climate at the International Conference on Biodiversity, Climate Change Assessment and Impacts on Livelihoods, set to take place...
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Mountain Regions, Territories of InnovationeventThe Laboratoire D’Excellence Innovation et Territiores de Montagne (LabEx ITEM) will host “Mountain Regions, Territories of Innovation”. The conference will investigate the future of mountain regions in the face of climate change and changing relationships between communities and nature. How do endogenous and exogenous processes of change and adaptation transforming...
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Publication on waste management in mountainsnewsA new report looks at the growing issue of waste in the world’s mountain regions. Launched by GRID-Arendal, the International Solid Waste Management Association and the United Nations Environment Programme on 11 December, International Mountain Day, “Waste management Outlook for Mountain Regions - Sources and solutions” highlights both...
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