Cryosphere adaptation and disaster risk reduction: lessons learned and next steps for the Hindu Kush – Karakoram – Himalaya

Organisers: Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Pakistan and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

Event time: 16:45 – 18:15 (Brazil standard time) 

Background

In the western Himalayas, the Cryosphere – snow, glaciers, and permafrost, contributes nearly 46% to the runoff river system, which are important for life, livelihood, and economy in the region.

Alarms are raised in the Western Himalaya, where some 26,000 km² of glaciers, about 26% of the Third Pole’s total, are retreating due to cryospheric changes brought by increasing global temperature. This emergency calls for an urgent need to design locally customised climate adaptation solutions to protect lives and livelihoods of mountain and downstream communities.

Accelerated melting, and glacier retreat heighten the risk of sudden hazards, particularly glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), flash floods, and potential permafrost collapse.

These scenarios require a robust risk assessment and disaster risk reduction (DRR) framework as part of the adaptation strategies. Expanded early warning networks, coupled with downstream alert systems, also ensure that communities receive timely hazard notifications. This session will particularly focus on sharing lessons learned from the implementation of large-scale adaptation initiatives in the region.

The session will start with a short video (five minutes) on Glaciers and Communities in the mountain region of Pakistan. Then it will be followed by a 60-minute panel discussion, along with questions and answers.

The highlight of the session is the unveiling of the Cryosphere Preservation Strategy, focusing on transboundary cooperation for black carbon mitigation and regional early warning alerts.

This session is organised by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Pakistan and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Objectives

The session aims to attain the following objectives:

• deliberate on risks posed by changing cryosphere with special focus on local learnings on accelerated glacial melt in the Hindu Kush Karakoram region, and,
• formulate recommendations for managing transboundary risks to communities and economies through grounded adaptation strategies.

Expected outcomes

The session aims to attain the following outcomes:

• enhanced understanding of multi-hazards risks originating from hydro-metrological systems to seismic hazards, and its implication for local communities’ life and livelihoods.
• shared lessons learned on linking risk analysis with early warning systems design, especially the complexities of design, and installation in mountainous terrains based on implementation experience of large-scale projects in the region.
• increased awareness on the importance of setting up of hazard assessment portal, climate services and respective standardised protocol across the value chain from assessment to warning dissemination.
• reaffirmed support in strengthening the capacity of sub-national institutions, such as district administrations of mountainous areas and disaster management authorities as first responders through data-led coordination.
• increased understanding of the challenges in integrating local adaptive strategies and national adaptation plans.
• enhanced understanding of the need for upstream, and downstream linkages and cooperation among upper, and lower riparian as part of climate change adaptation strategies of the region.