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.
![]() Next MP Global Meeting to be held in Aspen, USA in 2022peak to peakThe July 2021 issue of Peak to Peak announces the host and location of the sixth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership, to be held in 2022. Members' Voices features new member Last Forest Enterprises Pvt. Ltd., a social enterprise that promotes eco-friendly, thoughtful and meaningful products made by indigenous communities in the mountains of... Download » |
![]() Apply for GROW Summer School 2021newsThe 2021 GROW Summer School "Agrobiodiversity in a Changing Climate" is now accepting applications. The summer school will be held online from 14 to 24 September 2021. One of the world’s greatest challenges is to secure access for all to adequate supplies of food that are healthy, safe and high quality,... Read more » |
![]() Glaciers of the Himalayas: Climate Change, Black Carbon, and Regional ResiliencepublicationMelting glaciers and the loss of seasonal snow pose significant risks to the stability of water resources in South Asia. The 55 000 glaciers in the Himalaya, Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges store more freshwater than any region outside of the North and South Poles. Their ice reserves feed... Download » |
![]() Standard for biodiversity management open for public consultationnewsProClima and South Pole are joining forces to provide tools for biodiversity management that will be applicable to the conservation of mountain ecosystems. They invite Mountain Partnership members to participate in the public consultation of their “Standard for the certification and registration of biodiversity conservation initiatives: Nature-based solutions for...
|
![]() MP's dialogue highlights sustainable food systems in mountainspeak to peakThe June 2021 issue of Peak to Peak highlights the outcomes of the Mountain Partnership's Independent Dialogue on mountains an sustainable food systems, organized to inform the first-ever UN Food Systems Summit. Members' Voices features a Mountain Partnership Products producer story on Mermelada de Arándano from Peru. Top news stories cover a... Download » |
![]() MP's dialogue highlights sustainable food systems in mountainsnewsThe diversity of mountain food systems and the role of mountain people as custodians of knowledge and agrobiodiversity were highlighted in an Independent Dialogue organized by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat to inform the first-ever UN Food Systems Summit. This milestone Summit, which will take place in New York in September... Read more » |
Mountain Partnership
| Our work
| Focus areas
| Follow Us Subscribe to Peak to Peak Newsletter
|