The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
"During our [1984 Indian] Everest Expedition we saw how Sir Edmund Hillary has worked in that area. So that also inspired us to work..." (Indian mountain climber and ecologist Harshwanti Bisht, explaining her motivation to "Save Gangotri") Professor of economics, and conservationist, and mountaineer Dr. Harshwanti Bisht will receive the …
Environmentalists in Sri Lanka warn of severe environmental degradation in the island's main catchment area of Sri Pada mountain. They say that the pilgrims who visit the sacred mountain are damaging the environment in the sensitive ecosystem from which the country's four major rivers, Mahaweli, Kalu, Kalani and Walawe start …
Litterbugs, beware: Nepal is making new rules to persuade trekkers to clean up after themselves on Mount Everest, in the hopes of clearing the tons of rubbish now clogging the world’s highest peak. Starting this spring, Nepali officials at Everest base camp will check that each climber descends the mountain …
Everest climbers will each be made to carry at least 8kg (18lb) of rubbish back with them on the way down, under new rules to eradicate a growing garbage problem on the world’s highest peak. Nepalese officials said the new rules were part of a package of measures that will …
A Planning Commission panel recently recommended allocation of 2 per cent of annual gross budgetary support (to the Twelfth Plan) per year to the 11 Himalayan states, including seven in the Northeast. The amount, at current levels would work out to be about Rs 10,000 crore, to be earmarked for …
The present report was prepared in response to the General Assembly resolution 66/205, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report to it at its sixty-eighth session on the status of sustainable development in mountain regions. The report describes the status of Sustainable Mountain Development (SMD) at the national …
The Himalayan region has seen unchecked construction activity, illegal mining, unscientific road building and hydropower projects built next to each other The floods in the Himalayas have been ferocious and deadly. The final body count could run into several thousands. There is no clear estimate of the number of villages …
Rise in temperatures and a fall in the amount of precipitation in the Mount Everest region has led to a majority of mountain glaciers shrinking by 30 percent along with an upward movement of snowline by 180 metres in the last five decades, according to a new study conducted in …
State Action Plan for Climate Change (SAPCC) seeks to address the commitments of J & K by formulating SAP containing both adaptation & mitigation measures to cope with the climate change impacts as mentioned. The Plan seeks to develop, apply and diffuse technologies (and technology transfer), practices and processes that …
A combination of climate change and booming tourism could cause famous mountain spots in Southwest China's Yunnan province to lose their snow, authorities and experts have warned. Rising temperatures in recent years have steadily pushed the snow line on Meili Snow Mountain in the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to higher …
The government of Nepal, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) jointly launched the ‘Ecosystem based Adaptation in mountain ecosystem in Nepal (EbA)’ Project today. The project aims at implementing an emerging approach to help people to adapt to …
GANGTOK, May 27 – The two-day ‘2nd Sustainable Mountain Development Summit’ of Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) hosted by Sikkim concluded with the ‘Gangtok Declaration’ and a momentum to carry on for the third summit proposed to be held at Kohima next year. “We resolve that the mountain States in India …
Himalayas are warming about three times faster than the global average temperature during the last 25 year period, says a new study. The report made public on Wednesday states the average annual precipitation during the same period has increased by 6.52 millimetre per year in the region. Authored by Uttam …
Dawa Steven Sherpa, 28-year-old mountain guide and adventure pioneer from Nepal, has been awarded the first ever WWF International President’s Award during a special ceremony at global conservation organization WWF’s Annual Conference in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Now a professional guide, mountaineer and conservation activist in the Himalayan region where he …
Mountains cover approximately one-quarter of the world’s surface and are home to 12 percent of the human population. By providing freshwater and other key environmental services to more than half of humanity, mountain ecosystems play a crucial role in the development of the planet and contribute significantly to the well-being …
In this paper, Jayanta Bandopadhyay explains the need for an interdisciplinary framework for water resource management. He states that this framework needs to include ecological, social, economic and institutional perspectives. These perspectives are essential to facilitate cooperation over the management of transboundary rivers.
Advocating to follow Gandhiji’s message for Sustainability of Himalayas, Environment Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Friday said pressure of population and exploitation of natural resources are extracting a heavy toll on the mountain range. She said such increasing pressures on the fragile eco-system need to be checked with proper governance. She …
A joint FAO/CDE publication examines one of the least-known environments in the world. Dryland mountains are of great strategic value to regional and global development – they provide 90% of the freshwater supply to surrounding dry lowlands – and yet they are often overlooked by decision- and policymakers. Dryland mountains …
Environment Ministers’ Meeting 30 September, 2011 - One of the outcomes of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation environment ministers’ meeting, which ended yesterday, was the endorsement of the terms of reference for four initiatives under the Thimphu declaration. The four initiatives include the SAARC inter-governmental marine initiative, to …
Minister of Environment & Forests, Smt Jayanthi Natarajan inaugurated the one-day workshop 'Challenges in Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation - Potential for Collaboration between ICIMOD and India' on the occasion of first ever ICIMOD-India Day celebration today in New Delhi on 30th September 2011. The workshop was jointly organised by …
