$15m boost for indigenous and local peoples’ adaptation in the mountains

Kathmandu – The Canadian Government has pledged $15M to a project that sets out to reduce the climate vulnerability of women, Indigenous and Local Peoples in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, Canada’s International Development Minister announced 9 March. 

The project, which will run over five years and be led by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), aims to build the resilience of 40,000 people in the three mountain countries that are frontline to climate and other escalating changes. 

The funding comes as experts warn that temperature rise, biodiversity loss and air pollution are compounding socio-economic vulnerabilities in the mountains to push human populations in the region to the brink of crisis. 

Making the announcement, Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, Canada stated, “Canada continues to fiercely strengthen our long-lasting friendships within the Indo-Pacific region. By supporting vulnerable communities, empowering women and addressing climate change, we are creating a brighter tomorrow for the global community.” 

“People in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are some of the poorest, most food-insecure, and most water-stressed on the planet, in one of the most populous, politically fragile, hazard-prone and biodiverse regions on Earth,” said Abid Hussain, ICIMOD’s Livelihoods lead. 

“As the climate and nature crisis escalates, women, girls, and Indigenous communities in this region are being left on the cusp of a crisis. 

“We’re delighted to partner with Canada to deploy a range of approaches ICIMOD has developed that blend innovation with traditional knowledge systems to massively increase these communities’ resilience to climate and other shocks.” 

The project will support greater uptake of sustainable land and water management practices to revive and protect local water resources, use renewable energy to build food security, and capacity build women’s and Indigenous groups to increase their access to power and resources in the longer-term. 

While the projects are designed to align with regional governments’ existing national adaptation plans (NAPs), scientists say that across the region NAPs are “fragmented and insufficient to tackle the imminent challenges posed by climate change” making swift and thorough scaling of adaptation initiatives crucial to address the social, economic and environmental impacts.