Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20) to be held in June 2012 will have green economy as one of its two main themes. This paper has been prepared to strengthen arguments for discussing mountain issues at Rio+20 and in other global discourses. The aim is to ensure renewed efforts and commitment by the global community at Rio+20 to prioritise mountain issues in development agendas and processes dealing with poverty reduction, food security, climate change, and other issues that are critical to sustainable development in mountain areas.
This paper is the outcome of three days’ deliberation among key stakeholders at the International Conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development, jointly organised by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Kathmandu, Nepal from 5 to 7 September 2011. The conference brought together diverse stakeholders including scientists, policy makers, development practitioners, and civil society and private sector representatives from the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America, North America, and Europe. The Conference put forward the Kathmandu Declaration on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development, included in this document as an annex.
The initial text for this paper was prepared by Professor Gopal Kadekodi of India. It was further developed with input from staff of ICIMOD and UNEP. We recognise the strong commitment of UNEP in supporting the mountain agenda. The contributions of Mario Boccucci, Asad Naqvi, and Pier Carlo Sandei at UNEP have been particularly useful. The paper was presented at the conference to stimulate discussion. It was then thoroughly revised to integrate inputs and insights from the participants. The paper examines the role of mountain ecosystems in green economy; their contribution to national, regional, and global economy, environmental protection, and human wellbeing; upstream-downstream linkages; and emerging challenges, issues, and opportunities. It also briefly outlines relevant strategies, approaches, and options for promoting sustainable mountain development.
This paper has also been discussed at the Global Mountain Conference in Lucerne, Switzerland in October 2011 and subsequent global and regional events leading up to Rio+20.
Dr. Sudhirendar Sharma from India writes about the potential of mountain states in India in terms of their natural wealth and kind of benchmark for the services provided by them. By taking examples from developed countries his doubts are about insignificant valuation of tangible ecosystem services, therefore the unlikely transaction of such payments in near future. His discourse is also about such ecosystem valuation in economic terms as ‘green economy’, and apprehensions on commodification of natural services. You can read the full article at:
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thank you for useful info!
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