The HKH Call to Action articulates six urgent actions and clear associated targets required to sustain mountain environments and improve livelihoods in the HKH. Drafted through a broadly consultative process and owned by the eight HKH countries, the Call to Action outlines shared region-wide priorities on the path to realizing the vision of a prosperous, poverty-free and peaceful HKH. Regular science-policy forums will be held to build on the momentum gained through the Call to Action drafting process and to further strengthen regional cooperation.

Through the consultation process, HKH governments expressed willingness to increase leadership in articulating the unified voice for the HKH on global platforms and have expressed support for the idea of national campaigns. These proposed national campaigns would encompass the essence of the regional Call to Action, while at the same time, provide roadmaps for action on country-specific priority areas. HKH governments also expressed their support for nine mountain priorities consistent with the SDGs which had been identified through the deeply collaborative HKH Assessment report drafting process. The consultations also stressed the importance of incentives and means for mountain communities to conserve and manage ecosystems for improving their livelihoods, and to ensure trans-boundary actions to conserve landscapes and sustain the flow of ecosystem services. The need to proactively promote HKH-wide cooperation in open data sharing for public goods and services and to promote and make use of our open access Regional Database System was also acknowledged.

To further the aims of the HKH Call to Action, a dedicated task force consisting of representatives from focal ministries has prepared a draft declaration for the proposed HKH Mountain Ministerial Summit to be held in 2020. That first HKH Mountain Ministerial Summit is positioned to bring broader political support for the HKH Call to Action and encourage scaling up actions at national, regional and global levels.