* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
To keep the bulk of ice in the 'Third Pole', we must accelerate efforts to reduce our regional and global carbon footprint
By Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director Asia-Pacific
The average temperature in the world’s highest mountains along the Hindu Kush-Himalaya range is rising faster than in lower-lying regions. By 2100, the range could lose up to two-thirds of its glacier mass if global carbon emissions continue their current trajectory. The changes in seasonal supply of water are already affecting ten major river systems and the lives of over two billion people.
While adaptation to climate change is key, it is insufficient. We must bring about major shifts in agricultural practices and develop alternative sources of energy. We must rethink urban spaces and promote sustainable transportation. Easier said than done, but it can happen.
This quintessential development work in a seismically active region must happen in an integrated manner. In Bhutan, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is helping introduce climate-smart agricultural practices to more than 100,000 farmers. The project supports them also to better adapt to and manage water and land resources in light of changing weather patterns, including having tools to minimize the risk of deadly landslides.
These activities must be brought to scale. Growing food insecurity will exacerbate the vulnerability of tens of millions of families already struggling with the health and economic consequences of COVID-19, whose second wave hit South Asia hard early this year.
Collaboration between countries will be critical to prepare for the potentially disastrous outbursts of mountain lakes fed by melting glaciers. The $100 billion commitment for climate action in developing countries, which is on the agenda of the ongoing climate talks, could finance strategic programmes in Asia’s high mountains.
But the shrinking of the glaciers is not an isolated emergency - it is a symptom and a symbol of the Anthropocene. In 2020, man-made materials such as metals, concrete and plastic outweighed the biomass of all living plants and animals. This threshold symbolizes how humans are shaping their environment, irreversibly, with the over-use of fossil fuel-based industrial technologies.
To save the bulk of the glaciers in Asia’s ‘Third Pole’, we will have to accelerate efforts to reduce our regional and global carbon footprint by flooring the ‘mitigation’ pedal. Both global greenhouse gases and regional air pollution contribute to melting glaciers. The effort to stop glaciers melting is not for the faint of heart. It will take multiple overlapping coalitions – at the municipal, national, regional and global levels – to decelerate the trend, and then reverse it.
The good news for everyone is that there are those who think it can be done. Those who also know that mitigation comes with sustainable development benefits. Moving away from fossil fuels and cutting emissions of black carbon and other short-lived pollutants is at the core of the green transition.
An example of macro-level mitigation efforts is Pakistan, with a commitment to no new coal power plants and a goal to source 30 percent of its energy needs from renewables by 2030. In Nepal, UNDP is supporting solar or solar-wind hybrid mini grids in remote areas.
In India, 157 Primary Health Centres in Jharkhand are operating with solar energy through a UNDP project which helps to improve delivery of health care to rural communities while also reducing emissions. In Bangladesh, we are helping to sustainably manage processing of 10,000 tons of solid waste produced monthly by the host and refugee communities in Cox’s Bazaar.
These are glimpses of demonstrative projects ripe to scale with growing awareness, policy change and investments that match the might and majesty of the Hindu Kush-Himalaya mountains. A big shift could come from moving to electric vehicles, cleaner construction and improved industrial processes. These activities cannot be pilots. They must be driven by a level of ambition that brings it to the scale corresponding to the challenge.
Many countries in the region have improved environmental data, monitoring and research, and platforms that bring together decision makers and scientists to influence cross-sector policy and institutions. At UNDP, we are assisting countries to achieve these goals also through their climate action plans under the Paris Agreement, known as Nationally Determined Contributions.
Protection of the snow and ice on the Third Pole carries with it the promise of well-being and prosperity for millions of people who live in and around these environs – and further afield. Melting, disappearing glaciers will change the course of life on this planet, well beyond their immediate geography.
