Climate change impacts in mountainous regions

HUMAN-induced climate change has made our only world fragile and unlivable. Total population, I mean seven billion people of all the seven continents, rich and poor of the world are vulnerable at present due to climate change. Research shows that people of the mountainous regions are worst sufferers and more vulnerable due to negative impacts of climate change. Mountains occupy 24% of the global land surface area and are home to 12% of the world's population. And 40% of the global population depends indirectly on the resources of mountains for water, hydroelectricity, timber, biodiversity, and niche products. So, for many logical reasons mountains matter in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The impacts of climate change on the Himalayan glaciers could be catastrophic for an estimated 1.5 billion people living in affected river basins in much of inland China, Central and South Asia, as well as Southeast Asia. Mountain communities in the developing countries are often marginalized from political influence, economic opportunities and generally face high levels of poverty. Climate change is placing an additional stress on these already challenged ecosystems and livelihoods. It was discussed at the COP 19 (Conference of the Parties) in Warsaw, Poland (November 2013) that sharing resources and knowledge on climate change adaptation is still not widely practiced in mountainous South Asian countries, even though they face similar challenges from climate change.
The Switzerland-based IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) warns that the climate change negatively impacts on health and disease, conflict, economic cost, biodiversity, oceans and seas, sea level rise, glacier/snow melt, winds, heavy rainfall, drought, agriculture, and temperature. Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased. Each of the last three decades has been successively warmer at the Earth's surface than any preceding decade since 1850. Glaciers in the Himalaya are receding faster than in any other part of the world…the likelihood of them disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that climate change, since the 1970s is already responsible for over 150,000 deaths each year in the globe through increasing incidence of diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition.
UNESCO suggested undertaking projects to contribute to enhanced resilience to global change, particularly climate change, through improved understanding of vulnerabilities, opportunities and potentials for adaptation. Those should be through the development of strategies and policies based on scientific, evidence-based knowledge in major mountain regions of Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.
Relating to climate-related vulnerabilities in the hilly areas of Bangladesh including the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), experts suggested listening to tribal/indigenous people and learning from them. It could in some cases be useful to promote alternatives that conserve indigenous values as well as reduce the vulnerability to climate change. Because externally-conceived development planning for the Chittagong Hill Tracts has done more harm than good to the indigenous people, and to their traditional occupational practices.
Women are worst sufferers due
to climate change
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal, organized an international conference entitled 'Addressing Poverty and Vulnerability in the Hindu Kush Himalayas: Forging Regional Partnerships to Enable Transformative Change'; held in Kathmandu, Nepal on December 01-04, 2013. This writer had the opportunity to attend the conference as a media person.
The brilliant discussants of the conference kept climate change as one of the priority agenda. They pointed out that women, children and the poor people are the worst sufferers due to climate change in mountainous regions. Gender inequality and unequal access to resources and decision making are key factors that influence women and men's resilience to climate and other changes. For the long-term success-improved adaptation strategies, it is important to ensure that sustainable development, planned adaptation measures and politics take into account women's prominent role, and gendered knowledge. Those contribute to more equitable access to and provision of development resources.
Achieving environmental justice and citizenship
The environment cannot be seen as a stand-alone concern. So, we need to address environmental degradation in a holistic manner to ensure both economic and environmental sustainability. It is necessary for people to be knowledgeable in order to adapt and be resilient to change. That is why we need to achieve environmental justice and citizenship.  
Environmental justice and citizenship means to ensure people's active involvement in the areas of natural and social sciences, actor network theory, agriculture and agricultural economics, the built environment of mountains and urban studies, conflict and dispute resolution, critical geography, environmental studies, human and sustainable development, industrial relations, law, philosophy, ethics, political science, international affairs, public policy, politics, sociology, communication of science, theology, cultural studies and anthropology.
It also needs to strengthen partnership with the public and private sectors (PPP), mountain people's involvement in planning and project development, policy-making and implementation, negotiation and mediation at national and international levels, governmental, inter-governmental, non-governmental organizations, environmental charities and groups, business and professional associations -- as they all are the inseparable stakeholders. Support from the regional member countries and from partners outside the region such as scientific organizations will strengthen the role of Himalayan region in providing relevant knowledge on adaptation to climate change. We must focus on the theme 'Implementation and Implications' of governments, civil society and intergovernmental organizations for sustainable mountain development and climate change adaptation in mountainous region.  
The discussants of the ICIMOD conference recommended that the Goals strategies of Sustainable Development should be universal, easy-to-implement, and measurable. Those should integrate the three pillars of sustainable development: social, economic and environmental concerns. Speakers of the conference suggested five principles for future work: inclusion of otherwise socially-excluded people; gender justice; environmental justice; right to livelihoods, including land, water and forest; and governance accountability at the national level and within the global architecture.
In fact, print, electronic, social/citizen media must play the role of reliable and dependable sources to disseminate information on climate change for the sake of a livable world as well as to save valuable lives of its innocent people. For example, people of Bangladesh are not responsible at all for climate change; but the people of this country have been suffering most, as Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries due to climate change in the world!
In terms of food security, climate change and sanitation problems, at the opening ceremony of the Budapest (Hungary) Water Summit on October 08, 2013, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon put sanitation on the same level as food security and climate change, giving it a prominent role in shaping the post-MDGs-2015 sustainable development agenda.
The writer is an author and journalist. Email: [email protected]