Statement by Dr. Arjun Karki, International Co-ordinator at the International Conference of Mountain Countries on Climate Change

Panel Discussion on Climate Change on the Mountains: Knowledge Generation, Ecosystem Services, Livelihoods and Mountain Agenda

5-6 April 2012, Kathmandu, Nepal

Honourable Ministries, fellow panelists, colleagues and friends,

Thank you very much for inviting me to speak on behalf of LDC Watch – we are a global alliance of civil society organisations from the 48 UN defined least developed countries (LDCs), the most vulnerable and marginalised countries. The LDC group also comprises of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) including mountain countries, thus, LDCs are characterised by geographical as well as environmental vulnerabilities and needless to say, these countries are at the forefront of facing today’s climate change crisis, when ironically they are the least responsible with the lowest per capita emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Speaking in the context of today’s conference, 20 LDCs spanning across Africa and Asia are mountain countries with Nepal being one of them. I must mention here, that Nepal being the current Chair of the LDC Group, the conference indeed marks an unprecedented initiative of political leadership by Nepal which would conclude with a Kathmandu Call for Global Action on Mountains and Climate Change.

As I mentioned earlier, LDCs are increasingly experiencing extreme and erratic climatic conditions such as higher warming rates in all seasons compared to the global average, throughout sub-Saharan Africa where all of the 33 African LDCs are located. While precipitation is declining in Southern Sub-Saharan Africa, annual mean rainfall has increased in Eastern Sub-Saharan Africa. In Asian LDCs, there is rise in precipitation in Northern, Southern and Eastern Asia while less precipitation in Central Asia. The key climate change impact of melting of glaciers in the Himalayan and Tibetan plateau makes Bangladesh and Nepal prone to increased flash floods and destruction of river flows. The coastal zones and low-lying deltas in Myanmar, Cambodia and Bangladesh – all mountain countries – are severely affected by rising sea levels and increased frequency of storms and cyclones. In terms of ecosystems and biodiversity, there is increased desertification especially in Sahel and Southern Sub-Saharan Africa while deforestation, forest fires and degradation of grasslands, reduction of mangrove forests, sea grasses and coral reefs, extinction of floral and faunal species including marine life and increased coastal erosion and coral bleaching are threatening the very life and livelihoods of LDC populations. Talking of water as a vital source of life and the mountains serving as the water towers of the world, in the case of African mountain LDCs like Angola, DRC, Malawi and Tanzania, decreased rainfall and increased evaporative losses have drastically affected the prime water supply from the Zambezi River.

The climate change crisis, therefore, intensifies the developmental challenges of LDCs who are already marginalised due to economic vulnerability and weak human assets and now, burdened with low adaptation capacity. From an ethical and rights-based framework, it is imperative that LDCs receive full costs of adaptation in the form of obligatory, predictable, condition-free, additional, non-debt creating public finance within the Climate Convention or the UNFCCC. This reparation is demanded on the basis of climate debt and climate justice which resonates with the principles of “historical responsibility” and “common but differentiated responsibility” that are part of the UNFCCC.

It is evident that the present market-driven paradigm of over consumption and unrestrained plunder of our mother earth only adds to the climate change crisis rendering all current solutions false and futile. The fundamental, non-negotiable urgent action, therefore, remains of the world committing to deep, drastic, unconditional cuts in carbon and other GHG emissions. The more prolonged inaction in drastic mitigation, the lesser survival and existence of our mountain and small island LDCs. In this context, the current mitigating solutions being promoted of carbon markets do not tackle the root causes, rather further violates the rights of especially our forest-based communities and indigenous peoples, the most marginalised and vulnerable of our populations. For this very reason, indigenous knowledge systems must be duly recognised and ensured from the rights-based approach as against mere technocratic and superficial solutions that have been dominating the present agenda. Climate change has accelerated the degradation of mountain forests, already hit hard by population pressures and intensive agriculture. Nonetheless, to cite here, a smart local solution to the global problem of climate crisis has been community forestry which is a success story, especially in the case of Nepal. Community-managed forests ensure the practice of equitable and sustainable use of forests, additionally leading to self-reliance and empowerment of community forest users, a significant number of them being women. Community forestry, therefore, must be integral to the mountain agenda.

The next priority is agriculture since majority of LDCs and their populations are greatly dependent on agriculture and it is this sector that is experiencing devastating effects of climate change especially in terms of reduced yields, food insecurity and malnutrition. It's not the large-scale agro-industry that is to suffer, but the small marginal farmers that farm not only to earn a living but to feed themselves. When climate change threatens these farmers, it is less so an issue of economic well-being than it is of food security as they go hungry. So, the key issue is, how we manage to create a system to establish sustainable agriculture that not only ensures food security but also food sovereignty of the poor and vulnerable people living in the mountains while minimising GHGs (which currently stands at 14% from said agro-industry).

Finally, I would like to underscore that the forthcoming mountain agenda and the global call to action must be people-centric as well as people-owned for after all, we are talking about our vulnerable peoples, especially, women who are forever bearing the brunt of every ills in today’s age including climate change. All the key concerns of water, food, health, energy, livelihoods, infrastructure vis-à-vis climate change crisis that severely affect the poor and the vulnerable in especially our mountain LDCs have to be at the centre of the mountain agenda. The need of the hour is to go for real and just solutions that address the root cause of today’s climate change crisis. And, therefore, the need of the hour is an urgent shift in paradigm to safe and ecologically sustainable development that is pro-poor and pro-people thus truly embracing the right to development.