Leveraging Regional Synergies for Climate Resilient Water Management in Hindu-Kush-Himalaya

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Time: 9:00-10:30 CEST
(Room C1, Level 2 and Online)

Session summary

The Hindu Kush Himalaya faces accelerated glacial melt, threatening nearly 2 billion people. This session will explore how regional cooperation and science diplomacy can strengthen water management, close data gaps, and mobilize finance. The goal is to build a climate-resilient HKH through collaborative research, early warning systems, community-led adaptation, and nature-based solutions.

Session description

The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH), often called the “Third Pole,” is facing accelerated glacial melt, shifting hydrological patterns, and increasingly frequent extreme events—floods, droughts, and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs)—that threaten the lives and livelihoods of nearly 2 billion people. These cascading, climate-driven risks endanger water security, biodiversity, and sustainable development across transboundary river basins. No single country can address these complex challenges alone.

This session will explore how enhanced regional cooperation and science diplomacy can address the far-reaching impacts of glacial melt and strengthen the role of resilient rivers and wetlands in mitigating these effects. It will examine how such collaboration can bridge knowledge and governance gaps, foster joint scientific understanding, and catalyze collective, evidence-based action toward a climate-resilient HKH.

Key themes include:

• Closing data and knowledge gaps through collaborative research, open data sharing, and the active engagement of youth and local communities in transboundary water governance.
• Addressing critical threats such as peak water, GLOFs, and erratic precipitation to improve water management and resilience.
• Scaling up community-led adaptation by integrating locally tailored knowledge with scientific innovation.
• Mobilising finance for glacier monitoring, flood forecasting, ecosystem restoration, and adaptive infrastructure.

The session will present cutting-edge insights, showcase emerging regional solutions, and promote practical strategies, including integrated risk management, early warning systems, nature-based solutions, and inclusive governance—to build a water-secure and climate-resilient HKH.

Panelists

• Declan F. Magee, Principal Economist, Climate Change and Sustainable Development, ADB
• Senaka Basnayake, Program Lead, Climate Services, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC)
• Qianggong Zhang, Senior Climate Change and Environment Specialist, and Head of the Climate and Environmental Risks Unit, ICIMOD
• Vishwa Ranjan Sinha, Senior Programme Officer, Water and Wetlands, South Asia, Science and Strategy Group, Asia Regional Office, IUCN Asia.
• Alok Sikka, Country Representative- India & Bangladesh, Senior Fellow, IWMI

Moderator

Onsite: Faisal Mueen Qamer, Senior Intervention Manager, River Basins Intervention, ICIMOD

Online: Shahbaz Khan, Vice Governing Chair, APWF c/o Director and Representative to UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia.

Co-conveners: Asia-Pacific Water Forum (APWF), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN-Asia).