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Every year on World Environment Day, I take a moment to pause and reflect on the environmental challenges we face and the choices we make every day that shape our shared future.
Pema Gyamtsho
2 mins Read
This year’s theme, #BeatPlasticPollution, feels particularly timely. Many of us are living in a world where plastic is everywhere – light, durable, and convenient. But over time, this convenience comes at a heavy cost. As UNEP says in their 2023 report ‘Turning off the Tap’, globally, over 430 million tonnes of plastic are produced each year, with two-thirds used for short-lived products that quickly become waste.’ Much of this ends up in landfill sites, rivers, and oceans. And increasingly, in our mountains.
I have seen it firsthand – plastic wrappers left behind on trekking trails, bottles floating in once-pristine rivers, burned waste at high-altitude camps. These are quiet reminders that no place is too far, too high, or too sacred to be spared from this scourge.
We also know that plastic pollution is more than just an eyesore. It clogs our rivers and drains, contributes to urban flooding, pollutes our soils and waters, and even enters our bodies through food and air as microplastics.
At the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), we collaborate closely with partners and communities across the Hindu Kush Himalaya to better understand and tackle the challenge of plastic pollution. We actively support initiatives that promote plastic-free tourism in protected areas by encouraging responsible trekking and tourism practices. This includes providing guidelines and raising awareness among tourists and operators to reduce single-use plastics.
We also work with local governments and communities to develop and implement tailored systems for plastic waste collection, segregation, and recycling that suit mountain and rural contexts. Our efforts have empowered youth to lead clean-up drives, recycling projects, and innovative solutions.
Across the region, we have seen many inspiring examples – schools transforming plastic waste into eco-bricks, women’s groups establishing collection centres, and municipalities piloting incentive programmes to encourage segregation and reuse.
Personally, this year’s theme has nudged me to look at my own habits too. I have become more conscious of how much single-use plastic sneaks into my daily life – packaging, takeout containers, even in household goods. I try to carry a reusable bottle and a bag, and say no to unnecessary plastic whenever possible. It is not always perfect, but I believe small changes add up, especially when they are shared and supported.
As a regional organisation, we are committed to doing more and practising what we preach: and have committed to becoming plastic-free in our operations. We see plastic not just as a waste issue, but as a development, health, and climate issue. We will continue to build regional knowledge, support cross-border action, and work closely with policymakers and communities to reduce plastic use and improve circular economy systems in the mountains.
But we cannot do it alone.
World Environment Day is more than a commemoration – it is a moment of collective reckoning and renewal. We cannot afford to treat plastic pollution as someone else’s problem or tomorrow’s issue. Every bottle left behind on a trekking trail, every discarded wrapper washed into a glacial stream, is a sign that we must act. I encourage all of us, whether we work in policy, science, education, or community service, to take stock of our own role. Let us support local efforts, rethink what we buy and discard, and advocate for systems that reward long-term thinking over short-term convenience.
We all have a part to play. And if enough of us commit, practically, consistently, and together, I believe we can change the story.
Happy World Environment Day!
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山地被广泛认为是生物多样性的发源地,其陡峭的斜坡孕育了各种繁复的生命形式。这些地区作为自然的庇护所变得愈发重要:虽然它们只占据了地球总面积的四分之一,却容纳了地球上85%的两栖动物、鸟类和哺乳动物。这种丰富的自然资源在联合国教科文组织的738个全球生物圈保护区中得到体现,其中明显超过一半位于山区。 然而,令人担忧的是,这些自然资源的非凡丰富正面临威胁。过去,由于偏远或地形困难,山地得以免受人类干扰,但如今这种状况逐渐减少。曾经被视为大自然摇篮和避难所的山地正在逐渐转变成墓地。在兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区,上个世纪就已经失去了70%的生物多样性。这些损失,包括物种的灭绝,如今正以加速度增长,正如ICIMOD的重要评估报告《兴都库什喜马拉雅的水、冰、社会和生态系统》(简称《HIWISE报告》)所指出的那样。 在公众、政治和外交层面,人们越来越认识到自然是我们当前危机中最重要的解决方案之一。联合国已宣布2021-2030年为生态系统恢复十年,去年,《昆明-蒙特利尔全球生物多样性框架》的指导下,全球100多个政府承诺在2030年之前将30%的陆地和海洋保留给自然,其中包括兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区。今年,在联合国全球气候大会COP28上,自然首次成为讨论的核心议题。 这些努力,以及今年国际山岳日的“生态系统恢复”主题,为恢复和保护山区景观提供了迫切需要的推动力。那么,我们的八个成员国离实现“30x30”目标有多近呢?到目前为止,不丹是唯一一个实际超额达标的国家,其51.4%的土地面积已经属于各种保护区类别。 尼泊尔只有不到24%的土地受到保护;中国仅为16%,略高于目标的一半;巴基斯坦占12%;印度为8%;缅甸为7%;孟加拉国为5%,阿富汗为4%。 令人担忧的是,在整个兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区,自然资源仍然丰富的关键区域仍处在保护之外:67%的生态区、39%的生物多样性热点、69%的关键生物多样性区域以及76%的重要鸟类和生物多样性区都没有得到保护。 现有的保护区域犹如在人类改变过的景观中的“孤岛”,缺乏与其他保护区域的连通走廊,无法满足广泛分布的物种需求,并且面临非法捕猎、侵占和资源开采的压力。现有的保护区域不足以确保成功保护我们地区的象征性物种,包括亚洲象、独角犀牛和孟加拉虎。 一个尚未尝试的解决方案是建立跨界生物圈保护区,这将允许在景观层面进行综合保护。实现这一目标需要跨越国家边界的共同政治承诺,并在共享生态系统的管理方面展开合作。ICIMOD将积极推动我们区域成员国接受这一解决方案。 然而,底线是,要扭转自然的损失,我们必须对其进行估值并提供相应的资金支持。只要经济学家继续将其价值定为零,就不会引起足够的重视。在进行估值之前,拥有大量自然资本但经济欠发达的国家将因为缺乏3A信用评级而难以以较低贷款利率借款。必须为该地区的国家提供更便宜的资本来促使自然的恢复:这是ICIMOD将与我们的成员、多边开发银行和其他机构紧急合作推进的事项。为了防止地球系统完全崩溃,我们必须为大自然提供一个适宜的生存环境,这一观点从未像现在这样显而易见。
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