Making green economy policies at national and regional level has become inevitable for both developed and developing countries to mitigate effects of climate change and help people adapt to it.
Globalisation and climate change have shown a growing impact on the stability of fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain people across the world. Climatologists have, however, pressed on need to help mountain people, particulary Hindu-Kash Himalay (HKH) region, to understand these changes, adapt to them, and make the most of new opportunities, while addressing upstream-downstream issues.
HKH region is particularly important and more vulnerable to climate change due to its fragile mountain ecosystems, where the world’s top ten mountain peaks, ranges and ten major river basins are located. These mountain ranges and river basins are socially and economically important as nearly 210.53 million people of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan eke out their livelihood from the natural resources.
The Himalayas influence the climate of the Indian subcontinent by sheltering it from the cold air mass of Central Asia. They prevent frigid and dry arctic winds from moving south into the subcontinent, keeping South Asian countries much warmer than other regions at corresponding latitudes around the world.
However, mountain ecosystem in the Himalayas have an unprecedentedly significant role in carbon storage and carbon sequestration and provide a large share of the world’s resources for mining, forestry, water for drinking and irrigation, hydropower and generate wind powers as well. Besides, the services they provide for the local people and global communities include medicinal plants, nuts, fruits, timber, fuelwood and minerals.
Over recent years, shifting population dynamics, new economic growth, and climate change have occurred so intensely and quickly that the traditional adaptation mechanisms of the people of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region are losing their effectiveness. The upshot has been an increased risk of living in poverty and further marginalization for mountain populations.
In view of the fast changing economic, social, and environmental perspective, only innovative and sustainable climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies and methods can ensure a secure, sustained and improved lifestyle for the people of the HKH region and their downstream beneficiaries.
“The region’s people must be enabled and empowered to cope with, adapt to, and benefit from the changes in climate they are experiencing, so that they will enjoy better livelihoods along with increased social and environmental security,” Madhav Karki, deputy director-general of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said during his speech to the participants of three-day media workshop ‘Green Economy and Climate Change Adaptation’ held from November 2 to November 4, 2011 in Kathmandu capital of Nepal.
He also said ICIMOD monitors and analyses the poverty situation and its main drivers, and helps to develop policy-relevant information with a special emphasis on high value products and value chains, innovative livelihood options, and economic analysis. It is engaged to strengthen resilience of the people of HKH region and help alleviate poverty there by providing sustainable livelihood options. Innovative rural income generation strategies are at the heart of adaptation strategies the ICIMOD has put in place that allay the effects of socioeconomic and environmental change.
Dr Madhav Karki also highlighted that the mountains in the HKH region are the towers of rivers of Asia and the preservation of these mountains and natural resources there would help in promoting green economy in the plains.
“Mountains are global resources and upstream communities have to be rewarded, which will lead to green economy and sustainable development,” he said.
To achieve this in HKH region, the ICIMOD had prepared the ‘Green Economy for sustainable Mountain Development’ concept paper for Rio+20 and beyond.
“This paper has been prepared to strengthen arguments for discussing mountain issues at the Rio+20 and other global discourses on climate change mitigation and adaptation, with aim to ensure renewed efforts and commitment by the global community to prioritise mountain issues in development agendas, climate change policies, and process dealing with poverty reduction, food security, climate change and issues that are critical to durable development in mountain areas,” Andreas Schild, Director General of ICIMOD, said.
The paper, hammered out [this year in September] in consultant with the world-known climate scientists, environmentalists, ecologists, economic and development policymakers, representatives of civil society and the private sector from the HKH region, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, North America and Europe, notes that mountains are an important source of vital ecosystem services and have a significant role in economic uplift, environmental protection, ecological sustainability, climate change mitigation and human wellbeing.
However, while the green economy may bring new opportunities for investment in ecosystem services such as freshwater, biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration, renewable energy and creation of jobs, it does create challenges, the paper highlights.
“Thus it must be pursued with a balanced approach of economic, environmental and social development as well as apt policy and institutional measures to avoid mounting pressures on an already threatened environment and depleting natural resources,” said Golam Rasul, a green economist and development specialist at the ICIMOD, said while speaking to the environmental journalists from HKH region at the ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu on Nov 2, 2011.
He said that adopting green economy for all national governments has become inevitable as climate change continues to afflicts us all and ecosystems. “However, any economic polices framed without integrating climate change adaptation and mitigation would prove burden on the environment and rapidly depleting natural resources due to climate change,” Golam Rasul warned.
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