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Sustainable Development Policy & Practice

“Is not the mountain far more awe-inspiring and more clearly visible to one passing through the valley than to those who inhabit the mountain?"
~Khalil Gibran

International Conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development: Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20

5-7 September 2011 | Kathmandu, Nepal

Highlights for Wednesday 7 September 2011

International Conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development: Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20
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Flowers floating in water provided by mountain ecosystem services.
On Wednesday morning, Andreas Schild, ICIMOD, introduced a session to present the key messages and recommendations from the two-day workshop to the Conference.

The workshop summary was followed by a panel discussion with key stakeholders from mountain regions and international agencies, chaired by Thomas Gass, Ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal. Challenging participants to clarify their expectations of what would change if mountains were reflected in Rio+20 outcomes, MF Farooqui, Ministry of Environment and Forests, India, proposed that the message from mountain community should be that the “world has a problem, and we have a solution.” Olman Serrano, Mountain Partnership Secretariat, highlighted some of the Secretariat’s activities and the importance of influencing the Rio+20 Co-Chairs’ “compilation document” by providing the inputs of this workshop.

On Wednesday afternoon, Andreas Schild, ICIMOD, introduced the session on the way forward for sustainable mountain development and Rio+20. Mohammad Malikyar, National Environmental Protection Agency, Afghanistan, noted his country’s willingness to support the recommendations of this Conference. Sara Ahmed, IDRC, discussed the role of cross-regional collaborations as well interdisciplinary partnerships. In closing the conference, Mathias Jurek, UNEP, urged for the mainstreaming of the outcomes of the Conference in the Rio+20 preparatory process. The meeting closed at 4.45 pm.

Daily web coverage:
5 September - 6 September - 7 September

 

Presentation of key messages and recommendations
from the green economy workshop

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Andreas Schild, ICIMOD, noted the messages and recommendations were “works in progress” and encouraged participants to comment and contribute to them.
Yuba Raj Bhusal, National Planning Commission, Nepal, noted one of the workshop’s aims was to enhance the understanding of the scope and relevance of the green economy to mountain regions.

Panel discussion with key stakeholders from
mountain regions and international agencies

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L-R: Thomas Gass, Ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal; Wang Yi, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Olman Serrano, Mountain Partnership Secretariat; Arzu Deuba Rana, IUCN; Pema Gyamtsho, Ministry for Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan; Andreas Schild, ICIMOD; and MF Farooqui, Ministry of Environment and Forests, India.

Thomas Gass, Ambassador of Switzerland to Nepal, asked panelists to identify key messages they would like to see reflected in the Rio+20 outcome document.

Arzu Deuba Rana, Constituent Assembly, Nepal, emphasized that one of the outputs she would like to see emerge from Rio+20 is a convention on mountains.

MF Farooqui, Ministry of Environment and Forests, India, encouraged the mountain community to use the current global discourses of poverty alleviation and climate change when formulating their contributions to Rio+20.

 

 

Olman Serrano, Mountain Partnership Secretariat, highlighted the importance of influencing the Rio+20 Co-Chairs’ “compilation document."

Wang Yi, Chinese Academy of Sciences, highlighted some in-country experiences relevant to sustainable mountain development.

Pema Gyamtsho, Ministry for Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan, highlighted that the message contained in Chapter 13 on mountains of Agenda 21 is much more relevant in today’s context.

 

 


Way forward:
Sustainable mountain development and Rio+20

L-R: Zhen Lin, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Gulam Mohammad Malikyar, National Environmental Protection Agency, Afghanistan; Naseer Gillani, Planning Commission, Pakistan; and Purushottam Ghimire, National Planning Commission, Nepal.
L-R: Vijaya Singh, UNDP; Subroto Roy, GIZ; and Sara Ahmed, IDRC.
Bhupesh Adhikary, Evk2 CNR, and SP Singh, Indian National Science Academy.
Madhav Karki, ICIMOD, presents the draft version of the "Kathmandu Declaration on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development."

Closing remarks

Eklabya Sharma, ICIMOD, and Matthias Jurek, UNEP.
Andreas Schild, ICIMOD, and Golam Rasul, ICIMOD.

Around the meeting

Langston James "Kimo" Goree VI, IISD RS, suggested ways to bring the mountain agenda to Rio+20.
The conference room at the Soaltee Hotel.

Related Links
Conference resources
*Workshop and Conference Programme
*Conference flyer
*Green Economy Report
*Millennium Ecosystem Assessments Report
*Green Economy Coalition
*The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)
*Stakeholder Forum
*South Centre


IISD RS resources
*IISD RS Summary Report of the UNCSD Subregional Preparatory Committee for the Pacific Countries, 21-22 July 2011, Apia, Samoa (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of the UNCSD Subregional Preparatory Committee for the Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean, and South China Sea Countries, 7-8 July 2011, Mahé, Seychelles (HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of the UNCSD Rio+20 Subregional Preparatory Meeting for the Caribbean, 20 June 2011, Georgetown, Guyana (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary Report of the Keeping the Green Economy Blue: A Workshop in Preparation for the UNCSD, 29 April 2011, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF) (Spanish: HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary and Analysis of the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2012 UNCSD, 7-8 March 2011, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary and Analysis of the First Intersessional Meeting of UNCSD, 10-11 January 2011, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF) (Spanish: HTML - PDF)
*IISD RS Summary and Analysis of the First Session of the Preparatory Committee for UNCSD, 17-19 May 2010, UN Headquarters, New York, United States of America (English: HTML - PDF) (French: HTML - PDF) (Spanish: HTML - PDF)
IISD RS coverage of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 26 August - 4 September 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa
*IISD RS coverage of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, 3-14 June 1992, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*IISD RS archive of sustainable development meetings
*SDG - A mailing list for news on sustainable development policy
*Sustainable Development Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of International Activities Preparing for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development
*SIDS Policy and Practice - A Knowledgebase on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States
*Biodiversity Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Activities Addressing International Biodiversity Policy
*Climate Change Policy & Practice - A Knowledgebase of UN and Intergovernmental Activities Addressing Global Climate Change Policy
*Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news
*African Regional Coverage
*Latin America and Caribbean Regional Coverage
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