Abstract
Editor's note: The text of this article originally appeared as the final chapter of a brochure entitled Mountains and Climate Change—From Understanding to Action, prepared at the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland, for presentation by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at a side event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on 12 December 2009. Chapters of the brochure deal with various aspects of climate change and its impact in mountain regions. In light of the significance of the Copenhagen COP 15 conference, the editors of this publication believe MRD's readers will be interested in reading this summary written from the perspective of Swiss researchers and development experts. The full brochure may be viewed and downloaded at www.cde.unibe.ch/Research/MA_Re.asp
Highlights
Editor’s note: The text of this article originally appeared as the final chapter of a brochure entitled Mountains and Climate Change—From Understanding to Action, prepared at the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Switzerland, for presentation by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) at a side event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen on 12 December 2009
Mountains are among the regions most affected by climate change, and some of the clearest evidence, such as the shrinkage of glaciers, comes from mountain areas
Many countries with less mountain land critically depend on mountain waters for specific regions or uses
Summary
Mountains are among the regions most affected by climate change, and some of the clearest evidence, such as the shrinkage of glaciers, comes from mountain areas. Climate change in mountains will have important implications for irrigation, urbanization and industrialization, and hydropower generation. This will mean using water more efficiently, increasing storage capacities, and establishing, or revisiting, institutional arrangements for sharing water equitably within and between nations. Half of the global biodiversity hot spots are in mountain regions. They are an important global heritage that is being threatened by climate change and human action. Climate change might hold prospects for mountain agriculture—for crops previously not grown or limited to lower altitudes—provided that water, land, labor and capital through credit schemes or remittances from migrants are available to exploit such opportunities and that access to markets is assured
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