UN Photo/Milton Grant

Keywords: Water (1 hits),

As Mountain Partnership member from Indian Himalayan region please find below our comments / suggestion for Rio+ conference:

Since 1992, when chapter 13 on mountains as fragile ecosystems was introduced in Agenda 21, the demand for natural goods and ecosystem services from mountains have grown considerably. Moreover, the ability of mountain ecosystems to provide such essential goods and services for all of humanity is increasingly under threat due to climate change, in-discriminate development, poor governance and lack of appropriate financing in this region.

As Mountain Partnership members we recognize that despite the progress that has been made in promoting sustainable development of mountain regions, national and international development agendas still treat mountains, if at all, as marginal environments. As a result, poverty rates are higher than in non-mountain areas, therefore, the people are most vulnerable to climatic changes, poor development practices and lesser livelihood opportunities.

In the context of a Green Economy, the region is looking for cautiously chosen opportunities for investments by interested players and they could in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, agro-forestry, Water management technologies and other similar ecosystem goods and services. In this context innovative institutional arrangements are urgently required to trigger best governance models and decision support systems aiming at both the integration of the social, environmental and economic capital at all scales in the mountain regions, as well as the actual mainstreaming of mountains into overall national development and conservation processes.

Also enhancing the global political commitment that translates into increased investments tailored to mountain regions will directly benefit poor mountain communities and indirectly humanity as a whole. Hence, sustainable mountain development, notably through integrated and socially inclusive policies, livelihood opportunities, environment governance models, appropriate green technologies, should have a prominent place in the Rio 2012 agenda and in particular in its final declaration. To achieve these ends strong and united advocacy for mountain issues with tangible results in future UNCSD negotiations is essential.