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David James Molden
3 mins Read
Recognize and prioritize the uniqueness of HKH mountain people – this is what we have always sought to do through our work at ICIMOD – and I’m particularly thrilled that it has formalized into one of the Six Urgent Actions within our HKH Call to Action, which is our roll-out campaign for the HKH Assessment Report.
Our HKH region is extremely diverse in cultures, traditions, and livelihoods. There is an incredible tapestry of cultures, languages, practices, and ways of viewing the world that needs to be understood as we look to address some of today’s great challenges. But it’s not often that national, regional, and global decision making and policies take this into account. We believe that this needs to change and that we need to work together to bring to centre stage the uniqueness of people from the mountain regions. Without doing so, we cannot advance towards prosperity in the HKH.
Data from the HKH Assessment report shows that mountain communities across the HKH have lower than national average status in food security, energy security, health, education, and overall living standards while also having higher incidences of poverty and higher risk of disaster impact. Yes, to reduce these disparities, policy-making processes and adaptation plans need to focus on mountain areas, but we also need to tailor our programmes to the uniques context of mountain communities that differ from place to place.. Indigenous people from the HKH need full representation in decision-making at all levels in order to include their first-hand knowledge and address their challenges.
To help in defining the mountain agenda, we’re launching an HKH-wide awareness-to-action campaign “The HKH Calling,” The campaign is about listening to the mountains, mountain people and downstream populations and bringing larger societal awareness for collective actions to solve the problems of the region. This will evolve as a people’s movement to foster resilience building throughout the HKH. Using innovative processes and tools, HKH Calling will be a collective endeavour of multiple stakeholders including government, civil society, youth, academia, research and training institutions, schools/colleges, people’s representatives, community leaders, the private sector, media, regional organizations, and donor communities.
We plan to use this platform to share evidence, communicate the findings of the HKH Assessment Report, and foster collaborative actions from the ground up. This we believe will go a long way in spreading awareness about mountain cultures and their special character, needs, and significance.
Concurrently with the public awareness and action campaign, we’re also focusing on helping national governments and regional institutions to appreciate the benefits of trans-boundary cooperation. Ecosystems, climate change, disasters, pollution know no boundaries and beg solutions that are trans-boundary in nature. Thus without a common understanding and collective input and efforts, our chances of tackling current and future challenges are going to remain slim.
Thankfully, we’re already seeing some positives on this front. In late April our team visited India for a round of consultations on the HKH Call to Action where we were hosted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Niti Aayog. The discussions were very positive indeed and the Government of India expressed their support and willingness to work towards the HKH Call to Action vision with other HKH countries. As we continue to visit other countries in the months to come, we’re hopeful that they too will express their support and acknowledge the unique realities and needs of mountain environments and people.
We need to collectively define the HKH mountain agenda with inputs from all stakeholders from the eight HKH countries and we can do this through the HKH Call to Action and the HKH Calling campaign. Please join us!
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由气候驱动的风暴、洪水、热浪和干旱的经济代价首次被计算出来,即在过去20年中,人类付出的代价已达到1600万美元/小时。其中,三分之二的费用是由于生命损失,剩下的则是因为财产和其他资产损失。 而这不仅是兴都库什-喜马拉雅的统计数据。今年,在我们整个地区,气候灾害给许多家庭来了难以承受的损失:数百人丧生,更多的房屋、农作物和财产在毁灭性的洪水和山体滑坡中被毁。最近,上周锡金蒂斯塔河(Teesta river)爆发冰川湖溃决洪水,这清楚地提醒了人类,大自然的愤怒是无止境的。 今年的国际减灾日与我们区域内的家庭、科学家和政策制定者共同评估了季风和全球升温给人类和经济带来的沉重代价,恰逢其时。 展望未来,气候驱动的灾难将激增。联合国减少灾害风险办公室(UNDRR)预计,到2030年,我们每年将看到560起灾难,使3760万人陷入极端贫困。 科学表明,我们处在风险热点地区。不仅与极端降雨和冰冻圈变化相关,还有热浪、干旱和空气污染。因此,在计算这次季风事件的成本时,我们所有为该地区及其居民服务的人都有责任以更高的速度和更强的雄心,将科学、政策和行动联系起来,实现让所有人都能得到早期预警的目标。 我们急需捐助者深入了解该地区居民所面临的风险,无论是从危险量级和程度来看,还是从受影响的人口规模来看。我们迫切需要适应基金、绿色气候基金和儿童投资融资基金更快地分配到该地区,以及加强补偿机制的运作。 在ICIMOD,我们将在全球范围内倡导双方,还将在整个地区努力建立一种围绕防灾和数据共享文化;对政策制定者进行差异和关键行动领域的教育;为社区配备创新及可行的技术,并扩大以社区为基础的洪水预警系统。 我们所在地区的情况表明,全球范围内面临的灾害存在着巨大的不平等。我们的研究发现,当危机来临时,妇女和弱势群体受到的影响尤为严重。 为了消除这种不平等,我们郑重承诺通过整合工具、知识和资金,确保该地区居民能够有效抵御未来的冲击,并将妇女和弱势群体纳入我们战略的核心。对于兴都库什-喜马拉雅的国家而言,全民早期预警尚需更及时的实现。 白马·嘉措 总干事
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