Dr. Madhav Karki discusses about sustainable mountain development- SMD agenda that was adopted during 1992 Rio Earth summit, and how the socio-economic and environmental issues were taken by countries in the Hindu Kush Himalayan- HKH region during last 20 years in terms of achieving the goals as envisioned in SMD document. He argues that mountain

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Mountain Voice: In the series of Mountain Voice project the Climate Himalaya team interviewed Dr. David J Molden, Director General of International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD, Nepal) and discussed about the climate related issues in Himalayan region and about scientific communications and policy making processes. Climate Himalaya: Barring exceptions, it is business as

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Guardian: Fears rise of huge outburst flooding in the Himalayas as glaciers melt due to climate change. It’s strangely calming to watch the Imja glacier lake grow, as chunks of ice part from black cliffs and fall into the grey-green lake below. But the lake is a high-altitude disaster in the making – one of

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Kuenselonline: Climate Change Of late, farmer Rinchen of Semtokha is seeing some strange behaviour in her garden.  When trees in her garden at this time of the year shed leaves, a few apple trees have flowered again; and a plum tree is bearing fruit for the second time.  The banana plants are still green. “Usually,

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The Bhutan Climate Summit for A Living Himalayas was successfully convened in Thimphu on 19 Nov 2011. Presided over by the Honourable Prime Minister of Bhutan, Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley; Environment Ministers from the four countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal adopted a declaration on behalf of their Governments wherein a regional ‘framework of

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Washington Post: Amid regional tensions, only 4 of 7 Himalayan nations meet for climate summit on the mountains. Four Himalayan nations, faced with erratic weather and the threat of melting glaciers and catastrophic floods, are hashing out a plan for preserving the vast mountain range and helping millions living in the foothills cope with climate

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TIME: The Kingdom of Bhutan, tucked between India and China in the foothills of the Himalaya mountain range, is paying the price for global industrialization. Climate change is causing many Himalayan glaciers to melt in increasingly unstable ways, and there are concerns about the long term viability of the ice in a warmer world. Water

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UNDP Regional Centre: As a matter of national urgency, the Bhutanese Government – with assistance from an international climate change adaptation fund that was established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and partner organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme, the Global Environment Facility, the World Wildlife Fund and the Government

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Kuenselonline: While world over livestock population is experiencing an alarming increase to cater to as alarming an increase in demand for meat and diary products, Bhutan is headed the other way. That is quite befitting of the country’s emphasis and priority for environmental protection that draws its essence from its guiding philosophy of Gross National

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Kuenselonline: The Wangchu river that runs through Thimphu city, Bhutan’s biggest and fastest growing urban centre, is more polluted as it passes through the main town and flows downstream, a report prepared by the National Environment Commission concludes. The report collected data between March last year and April this year, from monitoring sites set up

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WorldWatch: Scientists, policymakers, and community representatives from across South Asia met earlier this month to discuss the many threats that climate change poses to the continent’s Greater Himalayan region. Across Nepal and Tibet, average temperatures have been up to six times warmer in the mountains than in the plains, triggering changes in regional weather patterns.

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Deccanchronical: At a time when the world recognises that mere GDP growth as a development goal is a false promise, and with the UN now making “happiness” a development goal, a number of countries are turning to the little Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan for lessons. Bhutan pioneered the concept of Gross National Happiness some 35

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World Crunch: Melting glaciers in the Himalayas put the small Kingdom of Bhutan at risk. Not only are the “frozen reservoirs” a fundamental water source, but the melting can also cause GLOFS – aka: ‘mountain tsunamis’ – killer flash floods that occur when glacial lakes suddenly burst. The Kingdom of Bhutan, tucked between India and

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CNN: Bhutan is the last of the Himalayan kingdoms. The small country is situated in the nooks and crannies of the highest mountain range on earth. It’s a special place that didn’t have paved roads until the 1960s, was off-limits to foreign tourists until the 1970′s, and didn’t have television until 1999, the last country

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Dr. R. S. Tolia: Writes this article as his ‘Third Inning’,  days those have been happily spent on reflecting over and about mountains and mountain people. This has taken him to various mountainous parts of India, neighbouring Nepal and recently to the beautiful city and canton of Switzerland, Luzern, in the northern Alps.  Besides learning

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Kuensel Online: Is accelerated development of the hydropower sector in conflict with the environment? Mega Projects 8 October, 2011 – Bhutan ambitious plan to tap 10,000MW of hydropower by 2020 (eight years and two months from now) may be following a clean and green path, but what has not been talked about is how it

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Suman K: The Hindu Kush Himalayan Region spans eight countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and China. It is home to around 1000 living languages, 4 global biodiversity hotspots, 60 eco regions, 27 Ramsar wetland sites, and as many as 13 UNESCO heritage sites. The region covers 10 major river basins from

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Pabitra Mukhopadhyay: When it becomes clear that the increasing risk of GLOFs is the outcome of a global trend in climate change and when it is known that the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region has far too many retreating glaciers leaving far too many glacial lakes that may turn into GLOFs, two realities emerge:  No single

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CDKN: Nepal has just secured more than $50 million from the Climate Investment Funds to build resilience against climate change. The money will go towards the country’s Strategic Programme on Climate Resilience. This is a great opportunity, but one that raises big questions: How can such a programme facilitate management by communities rather than just

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Kuensel: The Royal University of Bhutan will become the 24th university under the Earth Institute’s consortium of 23 universities, through which Bhutanese graduates will be provided a two-year degree course on sustainable development, such as poverty, population, health, resource optimisation, climate change and rural development. Called the master’s in development practices (MDP), the courses offered

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Climate change is likely to spread malaria to new areas in the Indian Himalayas, and lengthen the periods in which the infection is spread in a number of districts, according to projections from malaria researchers in India.But the country’s east coast could see fewer malaria cases by 2030, because of rising temperatures which affect mosquitoes’

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Bhutantoday: The International Year of Youth proclaimed by the United Nations general assembly from Aug 12 last year will end on Aug 11. The year was marked as an occasion to raise awareness about the situation of young people around the world, integrate youth-related issues into global and regional themes, and increase youth participation in

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BhutanObserver: Bhutan needs to prioritize adaptation and mitigation technologies to fight climate change. This was one of the core issues discussed last week in Thimphu at the inception workshop on Technology Needs Assessment (TNA). TNA is expected to help the country meet its development priorities and maximize its sustainability outcome, especially in reducing   green-house gas

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SierraClub:Do you despair that the developing world is starting to consume like we do? That our energy budget is spiralling out of control? Know, then, that Bhutan, the hidden kingdom of the Himalayas, is determined to develop sanely and sustainably. While you wouldn’t want to visit — tourist visas cost hundreds of dollars per day,

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K N Vajpai: We boast, we host, and we are lost! It sounds the legacy of mighty Himalaya and its people. Here, agencies seem boasting the urgency and the welfare of mountain ecosystem (!), while people in the region are hosting their dialogues with utmost care, and then they are lost somewhere. The remains of

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UN Solution Exchange India and Bhutan: Query: Enhancing the Reach and Effectiveness of Climate Himalaya Initiative Knowledge Sharing Platform – Advice. Reply by 24 June 2011 Moderator’s Note: Enhancing the reach and effectiveness of knowledge platforms like the Climate Himalaya Initiative (CHI) is crucial as they play a critical role in knowledge sharing, advocacy, research

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On the occasion of World Environment Day 2011, we prepared a very brief  note on the work of Climate Himalaya Initiative in advocating Mountain Agenda from Himalayan region . Our Take: Who will Fund our will! We don’t always require a project fund to set examples, spread ideas and make things happen! On this premise

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