A mountain voice in global forums

Urgent action is needed to protect the Hindu Kush Himalaya, a global asset. To raise the profile of the HKH, and draw global attention to the threats of climate and other change, we have been engaged in several initiatives and activities with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), and contributed to globally significant reports.

As a part of our engagement with the Convention on Biological Diversity and in preparation for CBD CoP15, we implemented a special project on ‘Aichi Target 11 in South Asia sub-region’ with the Secretariat of Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD). It involved a review of progress against the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets of eight Hindu Kush Himalaya countries, which will be launched during CBD CoP15 in Kunming. As a part of this work, a policy dialogue on Aichi Target 11 was organised to review the progress made in protected areas, and a webinar on other effective area-based conservation measures (OECM) in South Asia. Our colleagues have also been participating in meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) in preparation for CoP15.

We were also actively involved in drafting the post2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, including review and development of the indicators for the framework, with a special emphasis on mountains. ICIMOD also joined global conservation organizations in advocating for world heritage sites as a means for conservation and development. We also used the Global Landscape Forum platform to share the HKH Call to Action and contributed to the One World, One Health report. We also highlighted mountain issues at the first virtual Mountain Summit organised by Colombia, and the Mountain Biodiversity Day, organised by the Alpine Convention and UNEP.

ICIMOD staff continued to support authors and reviewers of global assessments such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) ensuring that HKH mountain perspectives, knowledge, and voices are included in global assessments. The second order draft (SOD) of the cross-chapter paper on mountains was submitted as a contribution from IPCC’s Working Group II to the Assessment Report 6, of which ICIMOD is the co-lead. The SOD was made available for expert and government review in December 2020.