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The world warmed by about 0
.7°C in the 20th century. Every year in this century has been warmer than all but one in the last (1998, since you ask). If carbon-dioxide levels were magically to stabilise where they are now (almost 390 parts per million, 40% more than before the industrial revolution) the world would probably warm by a further half a degree or so as the ocean, which is slow to change its temperature, caught up. But CO2 levels continue to rise. Despite 20 years of climate negotiation, the world is still on an emissions trajectory that fits pretty easily into the “business as usual” scenarios drawn up by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
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This open access volume is the first comprehensive assessment of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region
. It comprises important scientific research on the social, economic, and environmental pillars of sustainable mountain development and will serve as a basis for evidence-based decision-making to safeguard the environment and advance people’s well-being. The compiled content is based on the collective knowledge of over 300 leading researchers, experts and policymakers, brought together by the Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP) under the coordination of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). This assessment was conducted between 2013 and 2017 as the first of a series of monitoring and assessment reports, under the guidance of the HIMAP Steering Committee: Eklabya Sharma (ICIMOD), Atiq Raman (Bangladesh), Yuba Raj Khatiwada (Nepal), Linxiu Zhang (China), Surendra Pratap Singh (India), Tandong Yao (China) and David Molden (ICIMOD and Chair of the HIMAP SC). This First HKH Assessment Report consists of 16 chapters, which comprehensively assess the current state of knowledge of the HKH region, increase the understanding of various drivers of change and their impacts, address critical data gaps and develop a set of evidence-based and actionable policy solutions and recommendations. These are linked to nine mountain priorities for the mountains and people of the HKH consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals. This book is a must-read for policy makers, academics and students interested in this important region and an essentially important resource for contributors to global assessments such as the IPCC reports
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Werners, S.; Bhadwal, S.; Pandey, A.; Prakash, A.; Wester, P.; Mamnun, N.; Hassan, T.; Ishaq, S.; Ahmad, B.; Dahri, Z. H.
Development is occurring against a backdrop of vulnerability to climate change
. In order for development decisions to be sustainable in a changing climate they need to include choices and actions that modify climate change and its impacts and sustain development efforts over time. In the context of adaptation to climate change, adaptation pathways are proposed as a promising decision-focused approach to incorporate flexibility and account for future uncertainties (e.g. Haasnoot et al., 2013, Wise et al., 2014, Bosomworth et al., 2017). Adaptation pathways sequence measures over time and allow for progressive implementation depending on how the future unfolds, on the development of knowledge, and on stakeholder inputs and priorities. Other potentials are the ability to identify ‘no or low regrets’ interventions and to avoid lock-in, threshold effects, and maladaptive consequences. Thus, adaptation pathways may hold the promise to help plan and implement activities in an overall vision of development and climate change resilience
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This publication is a collection of summaries of ten selected HICAP studies
. The studies are published in scientific peer-reviewed journals or as working papers. The selected studies exemplify the scientific and thematic scope of HICAP’s research and the various scales that HICAP’s research has covered – the regional, basin, sub-basin, local, and household levels. The studies complement each other and provide coherent and comprehensive information and knowledge on climate change impacts as well as identify adaptation actions that are needed for enhancing adaptation in the HKH. They also reflect the initiative’s methodological scope, ranging from mathematical climate modelling and remote sensing studies, to policy analysis, household surveys, and place-based ethnographic and participatory research methods
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HI-AWARE’s overall goal is to enhance the adaptive capacities and climate resilience of the poor and vulnerable women, men, and children in the mountains and plains of the glacier and snowpack-dependent river basins of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), focusing on the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra river basins, through the development of robust evidence to inform people-centred and gender sensitive climate change adaptation policies and practices for improving livelihoods
. This report documents the journey of HI-AWARE from February 2014 to October 2018. This end of project report provides a comprehensive overview of the project, its major outcomes and impact. It is aimed at researchers, policy makers, practitioners and students interested in the issue of climate change adaption in HKH region as well as project management, research with impact, and capacity building in large scale action research settings. The report is divided into three parts: generating knowledge, research uptake and strengthening expertise
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Countries in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) have made advances in socioeconomic development in recent years, but the challenge remains to ensure food and nutrition security, end hunger and poverty, and provide access to safe water and clean energy to a burgeoning population
. Leaders in the region have committed to inclusive growth and climate resilient development as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2030. Achieving these goals requires a multifaceted approach including integrated solutions; efficient and sustainable use of land, water, energy and ecosystems; strengthening upstream-downstream linkages; and increased regional and subregional coordination and connectivity.In response to these concerns, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) with the Government of India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW) and the Institute of Economic Growth (IEG) conducted a “Knowledge Forum on Climate Resilient Development in the Himalayan and Downstream Regions” on 16–17 June 2016 in New Delhi, India. As a multisector platform, the event brought practitioners, senior government officials, policy makers, experts, researchers and development workers together to deliberate on issues common to the HKH. Participants from Himalayan and downstream countries, including Bangladesh, China, India and Nepal discussed ideas and solutions to ensure food, water and energy security and how to promote climate resilient development. Through six themes, the conference delved into challenges, opportunities and integrated solutions linking science and policy for inclusive growth and climate resilient development
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This study aims to deepen our understanding about local climate change trends, adaptation approaches and strategies of the government, NGOs, and other actors, and emerging adaptation practices in key impacted sectors in the Lower Teesta basin in Bangladesh
. This region, regarded as one of the important food baskets of the country, has been experiencing varied changes in climate variability (including temperature rises, heat stress, low and erratic rainfall, and prolonged droughts), falling groundwater levels, and climatic extremes such as frequent and devastating floods, riverbank erosion, and thunderstorms. These climate change and other stressors are hurting sectors such as agriculture, water, sanitation and health, fisheries, food security, regional infrastructure, housing, and the livelihoods of common people in general
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Dhungentar settlement suffered considerable damage during the 2015 earthquake
. Given the Dhungentar community’s marginalised and disadvantaged status, the challenges to and need for assistance in reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts were apparent. However, possibilities for collaboration and local entrepreneurship were also evident. Hence, the pilot demonstration project focused on helping the 96 households within the project area rebuild, recover, and rebound
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This study is an effort to contribute to the empirical literature on the diverse patterns of migration, adaptation measures by households facing environmental changes, and the role of migration in augmenting household adaptive capacities in four river basins of the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region, namely the Gandaki, the Indus, the Upper Ganga and the Teesta
. Recent studies indicate that migration can be a powerful adaptation strategy for populations facing global environmental changes, by increasing the ability of the households to rely on their existing resource base. However, there still exist gaps in empirical findings, particularly quantitative studies investigating migration and adaptation, to fully support this. Migration patterns in the study sites are diverse, ranging from seasonal/circular migration to international migration. However, most migration is internal and international migration is limited mainly to South-South movement. Migration is mostly male-dominated; however, female migration is increasing with women getting more educated and seeking employment opportunities in urban destinations. The major driver of migration decisions is economic, but environmental displacement was also prevalent in the study sites. The reasons for migration were consistent across the study basins, but differed between different streams of the same basin. The adaptive capacities of households in four key sectors are analysed – agriculture, livestock, forestry, and water. The capacity of households to adapt to the negative effects of environmental changes and shocks in the study sites was low, and the adaptation measures undertaken mostly autonomous, except in the case of the water sector. The linkage between migration and household adaptive capacity was found to be positive, but statistically significant only in the agricultural sector. Thus, migration helps households’ adaptive capacity by spatially diversifying household income sources, but this potential is limited at present as remittances are small and mostly invested in meeting basic requirements. Thus, at present, migration is more a response strategy of the households to various changes, including environmental changes and their effects on local livelihoods
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