Mountains make up over a quarter of the Earth’s land surface and are home to 1.2 billion people. Half of the world’s population depends on them for their freshwater, energy, and other critical ecosystem services. They are important sanctuaries for biodiversity, hosting about half of the world’s biodiversity hot spots. They are also centers of cultural and linguistic diversity, where a remarkable range of sustainable subsistence models and land-use systems, as well as unique approaches for adapting to climate change, can be found. 

However, global threats such as climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, and pollution are increasingly threatening the communities and ecosystems of the world’s mountain regions, triggering further harms globally. Climate-related impacts such as glacier retreat and reduced snow cover risk triggering more frequent and severe hazards that threaten food security, livelihoods, and ecosystems, in both upland and downstream regions. In developing country mountain regions, one in two people are vulnerable to food insecurity, stemming from poverty, marginalization, and gender inequality, which, in turn, are exacerbated by environmental impacts. Action to address these vulnerabilities and environmental impacts is, thus, critical. 

It is against this backdrop that Members of the Mountain Partnership come together every four years to chart the path for the next four years to accelerate mainstreaming of the mountain agenda. The Seventh Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership met under the theme: “Mountains for the Future: Responsible Tourism, Thriving Communities.” The meeting was a key milestone to accelerate progress on the Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions 2023-2027. 

During the three-day meeting, participants aimed to, among other things:

• showcase innovative solutions and case studies in responsible tourism, climate adaptation, and community resilience;
• strengthen existing and new partnerships across sectors and borders; 
• positions mountains at the center of international climate, biodiversity, and development agendas;
• adopt the Mountain Partnership’s 2026–2030 advocacy and communications strategies and the revised governance document; and
• elect the next Steering Committee, which will oversee the implementation of the Mountain Partnership’s workplan and activities over the next four years.

The meeting concluded with the adoption of the Andorra Declaration, setting the path forward for future collaborative action in mountain regions.

The Mountain Partnership is a voluntary UN alliance with more than 450 members, including governments, intergovernmental organizations, private sector partners, NGOs, universities, and research institutes dedicated to improving the lives of mountain peoples and protecting mountain environments around the world.

The meeting convened from March 26-28 2026 in Andorra la Vella. It was organized and hosted by the Mountain Partnership and the Government of Andorra. ENB covered the meeting virtually, providing photos and daily summaries beginning on 26 March.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers for this meeting were Mika Benoni, Ph.D.; and Mike Muzurakis. The Digital Editor was Diego Noguera. The Editor was Leila Mead.

Meeting organized by the Government of Andorra and the Mountain Partnership.

The sponsors are the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG).