Global News

The World Network Mountain Biosphere Reserves (WNMBR) launches new website, advancing its effort to unite mountain communities to conserve biodiversity, generate knowledge, and promote sustainable development.

Outcomes of the 6th Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership.

New policy brief sets the tone for tackling plastic pollution during the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development.

Researchers from ETH Zurich are studying how alpine vegetation is responding to a warming climate – and how some plant communities are continuing to stand firm against newcomers from lower elevations.

IPBES Values Assessment finds more than 50 methods and approaches exist to make the diverse values of nature visible.

Fifty years after the landmark 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment—the first ever UN conference on the environment — Stockholm was once again the gathering point to take stock of the state of the human environment and collectively brainstorm on how to move forward. Below is a brief analysis of Stockholm+50: A Healthy Planet for the Prosperity of All – Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity, held 2-3 June 2022.

From Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to the highlands of Armenia, the climate crisis is being increasingly felt in vulnerable mountain environments. Amplified warming at higher elevations, changing precipitation patterns and intensified natural hazards are adding substantially to development challenges.   

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability confirms that climate change poses increasing challenges to the goods and services mountains offer, including their ability to store and purify fresh water, support crops and host visitors.

To mark the official launch of the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has published two new booklets, titled Mountains ADAPT. They feature 27 concrete solutions in mountainous areas to adapt to the climate crisis – 18 in East Africa and nine in the South Caucasus. The material was produced under the Adaptation at Altitude programme, which is financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and implemented by UNEP and partners – the Mountain Research Initiative among them.

According to two recent studies carried out as part of the Vanishing Glaciers Project, the ecosystems of glacier-fed streams are undergoing profound change around the world. That could have major repercussions on the food chain and the natural carbon cycle.

The ecosystems of glacier-fed streams have survived nutrient-poor and harsh environmental conditions over the course of thousands of years, yet they are now being transformed by climate change at unprecedented pace. That’s the conclusion of two studies published by scientists at EPFL’s River Ecosystems Laboratory (RIVER), which is part of EPFL’s School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering (ENAC).

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