Back to news
17 Mar 2025 | Press releases

CA$15m boost for Indigenous and local peoples’ adaptation in the mountains

The Canadian Government has pledged CA$15M to a project that sets out to reduce the climate vulnerability of women, Indigenous and Local Peoples in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, Canada’s International Development Minister announced 9 March. 

1 min Read

70% Complete

Kathmandu – The Canadian Government has pledged CA$15M (US$10.5M) to a project that sets out to reduce the climate vulnerability of women, Indigenous and Local Peoples in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal, Canada’s International Development Minister announced 9 March.

The project, which will run over five years and be led by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), aims to build the resilience of 40,000 people, both directly and indirectly, in the three mountain countries that are frontline to climate and other escalating changes.

The funding comes as experts warn that temperature rise, biodiversity loss and air pollution are compounding socio-economic vulnerabilities in the mountains to push human populations in the region to the brink of crisis.

“People in the mountains of the Hindu Kush Himalaya are some of the poorest, most food-insecure, and most water-stressed on the planet, in one of the most populous, politically fragile, hazard-prone and biodiverse regions on Earth,” said Abid Hussain, ICIMOD’s Livelihoods lead.

“As the climate and nature crisis escalates, women, girls, and Indigenous communities in this region are being left on the cusp of a crisis.

“We’re delighted to partner with Canada to deploy a range of approaches ICIMOD has developed that blend innovation with traditional knowledge systems to massively increase these communities’ resilience to climate and other shocks.”

The project will support greater uptake of sustainable land and water management practices to revive and protect local water resources, use renewable energy to build food security, and capacity build women’s and Indigenous groups to increase their access to power and resources in the longer-term.

While the projects are designed to align with regional governments’ existing national adaptation plans (NAPs), scientists say that across the region NAPs are “fragmented and insufficient to tackle the imminent challenges posed by climate change” making swift and thorough scaling of adaptation initiatives crucial to address the social, economic and environmental impacts.

11 Dec 2014 Press releases
Raising the voice of the mountains at UNFCCC COP 20

Representatives from LDC mountain nations call for greater investment in the mountains for a sustainable global future (11 December ...

5 Jun 2023 Press releases
山区居民、登山者和科学家在珠峰敲响警钟,倡议世界各国领袖们立即迈向脱碳之路

距人类首登世界之巅已70年,而气候紧急情况发生在此:在兴都库什-喜马拉雅区域内,三分之二的冰川预计将在本世纪末消失。 领先的山地机构国际山地综合发展中心(ICIMOD)、尼泊尔登山协会(NMA)和山区伙伴关系(Mountain Partnership) 呼吁全世界来拯救地球上的冰雪,以避免为时过晚。 #“拯救我们的雪”宣言在最初48小时内就收集到1000多个签名,其中包括新西兰前总理、各国外交官、传奇登山者和著名地球科学家。 尼泊尔加德满都讯(2023 年 5 月 29 日)——七十年前的今天,在埃德蒙·希拉里爵士和丹增·诺尔盖首次登上珠峰 ; 70 年后的今天,地球上最高的山峰正在经历由全球变暖引起的前所未有且基本不可逆的变化。 全球变暖正在危及珠峰与兴都库什-喜马拉雅地区的环境,该地区横跨八个国家,约长3500公里。根据目前的排放情况,科学家预计在未来70年内,该地区三分之二的冰川或将消融。 国际山地综合发展中心(ICIMOD)在包括 尼泊尔登山协会 和 山区伙伴关系(联合国自愿伙伴联盟)在内的全球山地机构的支持下,呼吁公众支持 #拯救我们的雪(#SaveOurSnow)运动。该运动要求公众: 在社交平台分享来自世界各地山区的故事和照片,使用#SaveOurSnow 标签 强调气候影响; 在网址 icimod.org/saveoursnow/declaration/ 签署一份宣言,呼吁各国政府兑现将升温限制在 1.5 ...

15 Dec 2020 Press releases
Honouring mountain champions

Kathmandu, 11 December 2020 Every year, the ICIMOD Mountain Prize is awarded to an individual, organization, or private sector entity based ...

9 May 2018 Press releases
ICIMOD and NMB Bank combine efforts to benefit mountain communities in Nepal

  Speaking on the occasion, David Molden, Director General of ICIMOD, said, “ICIMOD is increasingly stepping up to work closely with ...

6 Dec 2017 Press releases
MOPE, EU, and ICIMOD host international conference on resilient HKH

After four days of invigorating discussion on resilience issues in the Hindu Kush Himalaya, Nepal’s Ministry of Population and the ...

10 Jun 2019 Press releases
The heritage gap

Currently, there are only 17 inscribed World Heritage sites in a region covering eight countries, four Global Biodiversity Hotspots, and ...