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Mitigation and adaptation measures for the Himalayan region
The Himalayan region is facing an urgent environmental crisis that demands immediate action concludes a new policy briefing1 by Climate Action Network South Asia. The estimated cost of climate mitigation and adaptation in the six Himalayan countries is staggering, with 1,085 billion needed for mitigation and 270 billion US dollars for adaptation.
Regional experts have been calling for global support and collaboration to increase the resilience of the region, and a broad regional framework of cooperation that identifies specific opportunities for engagement would be a positive step forward.
The Himalayan region is home to one of the most dynamic and complex mountain systems in the world, which is extremely vulnerable to global warming. Although uncertainties about the rate and magnitude of climate change prevail, there is no question that climate change is already changing the ecological and socioeconomic landscape in the Himalayan region, particularly in relation to water. It is imperative to revisit and redesign research agendas, development policies, and management and conservation practices, and develop appropriate technolo+gies to mitigate carbon emissions. Adaptation and mitigation measures can create opportunities as well as offset the dangers of a warming planet, but they must be identified and adopted ahead of, rather than in reaction to, dangerous trends. Policies should be “adaptation friendly”. The private sector and citizens in the mountains must share responsibility for mitigating carbon emissions, as elsewhere.
The urgency of environmental issues in the Himalayan region is further underscored by disasters such as recent floods in Pakistan and the 2017/18 floods in Nepal and India, which resulted in hundreds of deaths, as well as ongoing problems such as air pollution, erratic rainfall, heatwaves, and environmental degradation. To improve environmental governance in the region, four opportunities should be explored:
Strengthening the interface between science, policy and practice;
Strengthening institutional capacity to implement new policies;
Scaling up community-based environmental management systems by creating more enabling regulatory frameworks and appropriate local institutional arrangements; and
Strengthening transboundary cooperation among the Himalayan countries. By prioritising these opportunities, the region can move towards a more sustainable and resilient future.
Sanjay Vashist
Climate Action Network, South Asia (CANSA)
1https://cansouthasia.net/climate-change-a-himalayan-odyssey/
https://www.airclim.org/sites/default/files/documents/climate-change-in-...