Climate Change Disasters and Conflicts Ecosystem Management Environmental Governance Harmful Substances Resource Efficiency Other Thematic Areas

Adding mountain-related language to Rio+20

“Communicating mountains at Rio+20″ toolkit

The future we want: Mountains as living solutions for development
Mountains, Towers of Life:
A vision for a global mountain agenda in a post Rio+20 world
Mountains, Towers of Life:
Regional Perspectives of Mountain Services in a Rio+20 World
Mountains, Towers of Life

Third Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership at Rio+20!

The third Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership will take place in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on Friday, 15 June 2012, on the sidelines of the UNCSD Rio+20 summit.
The future we want: mountains as living solutions for development
We need to act together for the future we want. At our Global Meeting, the new five-year strategy of the Mountain Partnership will be shared with you all. In addition to our Global Meeting, side events on the “Water-energy-food nexus and why mountains matter” will be held. A Global Mountain Pavilion will showcase how mountains can successfully contribute to sustainable development.
E-consultations before our Third Global Meeting
Before Rio, electronic consultations via e-forum will be open to all Members on our website. We will look at key issues to include in our “mountains for development” strategy. In order to coordinate and maximize our actions towards the future we want beyond Rio+20, we will also discuss options on how to make the way we work together as Mountain Partnership more effective in response to the needs of a fast-paced world.
Kindly confirm your participation in the Mountain Partnership Third Global Meeting to:info@mountainpartnership.org

The water-energy-food nexus: why mountains matter

26/03/2012
Together with the Government of Nepal and ICIMOD, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat has organized a side event on “The water-energy-food nexus: why mountains matter“. The side event will take place on Monday 26 March 2012 at the United Nations headquarters in New York, back to back with the 3rd Intersessional meeting. High-level representatives from Switzerland, Italy, Ethiopia and Peru will explore opportunities for creating global, regional, national, and local mechanisms that can not only reduce vulnerability and poverty for close to 800 million mountain communities, but also help to ensure the globe’s future water, food, and energy security. Executive Coordinator for Rio+20 Brice Lalonde will participate in the discussions and Olman Serrano, Coordinator of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, will give closing remarks on how a common understanding among key stakeholders can positively contribute to the Rio+20 outcome document. IISD press coverage (26/03/2012)

Paragraph 94 on Mountains, “a model for others”

23/03/2012
At the recent UNCSD Informal consultations, delegates continued their first reading of Section V of the “Zero Draft” (Framework for Action and Follow-up). Below is IISD’s press coverage on the discussions on paragraph 94 on Mountains (Thursday, 22 March 2012):

Mountains: SWITZERLAND proposed text on, inter alia, integration of mountain-specific strategies in national sustainable development strategies and poverty reduction plans and programmes. The US said this section was a model for others. The US suggested moving references to payment for ecosystem services into a cross-cutting provision on the subject, while the G-77/CHINA proposed deleting them. NEW ZEALAND, CANADA, the EU and SWITZERLAND proposed moving a G-77/China call for support from developed countries to the MOI section, which the G-77/CHINA opposed.

The US concluded his statement saying he thought this section could be fairly easily negotiated. This type of statement has not accompanied the discussion on any other section, from any delegation.
Read more
UNCSD Informal consultations: Thursday, 22 March 2012 (IISD press coverage)

World Water Day 2012: Water, mountains’ “blue gold”

22/03/2012
It’s our planet’s most precious resource and our cities our powered by it: it’s water! And water comes from mountains.  It flows from the watersheds at higher altitudes creating life along its course, all the way down to the river deltas.  The sustainable management of water is the single most important priority for all mountain regions.  Water is a true mountain service and all other services depend on it.  That is why mountains are rightly called water towers.  In fact they are a lot more – they are Towers of Life. All of the major rivers rise in mountain regions, providing about 50 percent of all freshwater to downstream users. Without water, there is no food to feed growing populations.  Without water and mountains, there are no solutions to meet the growing demand for clean energy.  Without water, biodiversity and ecosystem integrity cannot be sustained.  Without clean and reliable water, human and global well-being is jeopardized. More in the March issue of “Peak to Peak”!
Some facts:
783 million people still lack access to clean water
40% of the food is irrigated, half of which uses groundwater
Most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat
Producing 1 kilo of beef consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres
1.3 billion tons of food are wasted or thrown away every year. Cutting that amount would save water!
Lack of access challenges poverty reduction goals (especially health, education, and food production)
Water scarcity is a growing reason for local and regional conflict
• UN World Water Day 2012: We are thirsty because we are hungry! (Official Website)
• Mountain Partnership and Rio+20:  “Water, Food and Energy nexus: why mountains matter” (26 March 2012, UN headquarters, New York)
• Last Call at the Oasis (Video)

Amendments to para 94 of the “Zero Draft” now online!

19/03/2012
Recognizing the importance of civil society, the Rio+20 Bureau’s co-chair Ambassador Kim invited Major Groups to submit their amendments to the Rio+20 “Zero draft” outcome at the Bureau meeting with Major groups on 27 January 2012.  A series of e-consultations has been promoted by the Mountain Partnership on a global scale. Your active contribution is now reflected in the amendments to paragraph 94 of the “Zero Draft”, as compiled by the Rio+20 Secretariat in one single document, available online at this page. The Mountain Partnership Secretariat thanks each of you for your valuable inputs to the “Zero Draft”. Your active collaboration and engagement at the upcoming rounds of negotiations are still required!
First round of “informal-informal” negotiations on the zero draft (19-23 Mar 2012)
3rd Intersessional (26 Mar 2012 – 27 Mar 2012 ) Negotiations “Zero Draft” document

Help shape the profile of mountains in the “Zero Draft”

14/02/2012 New York
The 9 Major Groups of Agenda 21 (Business & Industry, Children & Youth, Farmers, Indigenous Peoples, Local Authorities, NGOs, Scientific & Technological Community, Women, Workers & Trade Union) can give their comments on the Text of the Zero Draft of the Outcome Document. Comments can still be given on the entire document. The deadline for comment submission has been extended to 29 February. Email your comments to Ms Chantal Line Carpentier, CSD Major Groups Programme Coordinator: carpentier@un.org. The Mountain Partnership has prepared a revised paragraph 94 that you may use as a basis for your suggested changes.

Chapter V includes a succinct paragraph of mountains, paragraph 94.

Join the Mountain Partnership and help shape the profile of mountains in the “Zero Draft”. Email paragraph 94 to Ms Carpentier with our suggested changes, or feel free to include your own.  Kindly share this message with your networks and any interested organizations. Be sure to inform the Mountain Partnership Secretariat about any comments you have sent and do not hesitate to contact us for queries.

Chapter V, paragraph 94 of the “Zero Draft”

Mountains

We recognize that mountain regions and populations provide essential goods and services for human survival. Mountains are the water towers of the world, storing water in the form of glaciers, snow, wetlands, lakes and subsurface sources. Supplying fresh water to more than half of humankind, mountains are of strategic importance for agriculture, food security, biodiversity, clean energy generation, industrial development and employment. Mountains are also weather makers. Nonetheless, mountains are highly vulnerable to climate and other global changes. Given the tight highland-lowland linkage, these changes may have serious impacts far beyond the mountain boundaries. We recognize that mountain communities, including indigenous peoples, have often been practicing sustainable natural resource management, and that their efforts to maintain mountain ecosystem services generate positive yet unaccounted economic benefits, not only to themselves, but also to a large portion of the world’s lowland population including urbanized areas. We recognize the need to create global, regional, national and local mechanisms that justly support mountain communities in providing essential resources and services for human well-being. We underline the importance of supporting green and low-carbon economic activities in mountain regions through capacity building and development of suitable technologies, as well as innovative means of financing for sustainable development and conservation of mountain regions. We stress the pivotal role of regional centres of competence in research and development to achieve solutions which take into account the specificities of mountain areas. We recommend the adoption of integrated ecosystem management approaches taking into account highland-lowland linkages, transboundary cooperation and resource efficiency.
We recognize that mountain people are often marginalized, with insecure tenure and access to resources, and high poverty rates. We stress the importance of building capacity and strengthening institutions to promote inclusive development solutions, especially targeted at youth and women. We acknowledge the efforts of the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions (“Mountain Partnership”), as well as those of other UN bodies, governments, and other partners, to promote cooperation among the institutions, initiatives, instruments, and conventions relevant to mountain development. We welcome new opportunities for public-private partnerships and investments in mountain ecosystem goods and services, especially in the fields of renewable energy, sustainable forest management, sustainable tourism, responsible industrial development and climate-smart agriculture, including promotion of natural products. We acknowledge that actions in support of sustainable mountain development are key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Zero-draft for Rio+20 – paragraph n. 94 on mountains

10/01/2012 New York
The zero-draft of the outcome document for Rio+20 Conference is now online with a paragraph (n. 94) dedicated to mountains. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) Conference will take place on 20-22 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). This zero-draft document has been prepared based on inputs submitted by countries, major groups, United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies. With 71 of the 677 submissions related to mountains, the benefits provided by vulnerable mountain ecosystems have been recognized together with the important role played by local communities in the appropriate management of these landscapes. This zero-draft document will form the basis for further discussions and for the outcome document which will result from the Rio+20 Conference.

Read the “Zero Draft”
UN Draft Resolution on Sustainable Mountain Development

Meetings of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat in New York

16/12/2011 New York
From 14 to 16 December 2011, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat participated in meetings in New York looking to forge a common understanding on including mountain development in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) preparatory process and the Conference itself. The first meeting was the Mountain Focus Group. The second meeting was the United Nations Workshop on Partnerships. More…
UN Workshop on Partnerships (14/12/2011)
Photogallery

“On the road to Rio+20″

On the Road to Rio+20, the Mountain Partnership Secretariat urges its Members and Friends to include, in your submission to the UNCSD Rio+20 Summit, a message emphasizing the importance of mountain regions and highlighting how your efforts relate to the Green Economy, public-private partnerships and/or food security. The aim of this campaign is to give voice to each mountain region and to assure that sustainable mountain development is endorsed within international negotiations.
An important World Mountain Conference concluded last 13 October in Lucerne, Switzerland. Its Call for Action could also provide important elements to ensure mountains be included in the Rio+20 Summit.
Please find herewith a sample draft message.
Since 1992, when chapter 13 on mountains as fragile ecosystems was introduced in Agenda 21, the demand for goods and services from mountains has grown considerably. Moreover, the ability of mountain systems to provide essential goods and services for all of humanity is increasingly under threat from climate change, globalization, a chronic lack of investment and ongoing land degradation.
Mountain Partnership members recognize that despite the progress that has been made in promoting sustainable development of mountain regions, national and international development agendas still treat mountains, if at all, as marginal environments. As a result, poverty rates are higher than in non-mountain areas.
In the context of a Green Economy, new opportunities for investments by the private sector are emerging in mountain regions, especially in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and ecosystem goods and services. However, innovative institutional arrangements are urgently required to trigger governance models and decision support systems aiming at both the integration of the  social, ecological and economic capital at all scales in mountain regions, as well as the actual mainstreaming of mountains into overall national development and conservation processes.
Enhancing the global political commitment that translates into increased investments tailored to mountain regions will directly benefit poor mountain communities and indirectly humanity as a whole. Hence, sustainable mountain development, notably through integrated and socially inclusive policies, as well as low carbon technologies, should have a prominent place in the Rio 2012 agenda and in particular in its final declaration. To achieve these ends strong and united advocacy for mountain issues with tangible results in future UNCSD negotiations is essential.

Written submissions will be accepted by the Rio+20 UNCSD Secretariat until the deadline of 1 November 2011. Learn more about How and where to submit inputs for the Compilation Document at http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&type=12&nr=238&menu=32 or download the Guidance Note. For further information regarding submissions, please contact uncsd2012@un.org.
The Mountain Partnership Secretariat encourages its Members and Friends to submit the above message or a similar text to the Rio+20 UNCSD Secretariat. Kindly share this call within your networks to help us ensure widespread diffusion and support. For queries, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@mountainpartnership.org.
We hope you will embrace this opportunity, which will foster more effective protection and sustainable development of mountain areas and, in turn, global well-being.
To learn more about Rio+20 visit www.uncsd2012.org/rio20Workshop and Side Event Program Published
St. Gallen, September 2011. The final program of the WRF workshops and side events was published today. These events run partly in parallel with the scientific program and are organised by partners, such as UNEP, the German Umwelt Bundesamt (UBA), SERI, Wuppertal Institute, Techopolis, Rathenau Institute, Empa, Council for Less Common Elements, OBU, PRé Consultants and others.
Topics include sustainable resource use and poverty eradication in developing countries, chaired by Shaoyi Li (UNEP) and Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel (former UNEP Assistant Executive Director, and Technology, Industry and Economics Director), design and implementation of efficient resource policies, chaired by Harry Lehmann (UBA), closing resource loops (distinghuising good from bad in the secondary commodity market), chaired by Rolf Widmer (Empa), the rise of the bio-economy (European and Chinese approaches), chaired by European Member of Parliament Gerben Jan Gerbrandy. The film “The lightbulb conspiracy” will be shown in presence of its director Cosima Dannoritzer, who will give an introduction and answer questions.

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CPTI Side Events, Programs and Presentations

Conscientious Objection to Military Service: Recent Developments

Side event to the 4^th gathering of the United Nations Human Rights Council Palais des Nations, Geneva 27 March 2007 Moderator: Derek Brett (Representative of CPTI at the UN) (Second from Right) Speakers (Left to Right): Alan Gamble (CPTI / Peace Tax Foundation) on conscientious objection to military taxationRachel Brett (Representative for Human Rights and Refugees, the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva) on South Korea and Colombia Andrey Kuvshinov on Russia A panel discussion sponsored by Conscience and Peace Tax International (CPTI) and the Quaker United Nations Office in Geneva Transcript of Alan Gamble’s remarks [pdf version]

Side Event on Conscientious Objection

Palais des Nations, Geneva 1 April 2005 Moderator: Rachel Brett (Quaker United Nations Office) (Center) Speakers: (Left to Right) Marian Franz (CPTI) on conscientious objection to military taxation Adam Maor on Israel Abraham Gebreyesus Mehreteab on Eritrea Christoph Bierwirth (UNHCR) on conscientious objection and asylum Sponsored by Conscience and Peace Tax International and Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers)

The Human Right Not to Pay for War

UN Church Center, New York 25 March 2004 Moderator: Rosa Packard Presenters: Marian Franz, Vice Chair, Conscience and Peace Tax International introduces the video Committed to Conscience explaining the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill and comments on international campaigns for similar human rights legislation. Bill Perkins, Deputy Majority Leader of the New York City Council discusses support for this human rights issue through a local city council resolution. Shulamith Koenig, Founder, Peoples Movement for Human Rights Education International Winner of the UN Human Rights Prize-2003- discusses relevant individual and collective efforts to protect human rights. Sponsored by The International NGO Committee on Human Rights and The NGO Working Group on Conscientious Objection View the Transcript | pdf in US Letter format | pdf in A4 format

Alternatives to War: Increasing Our Peacemaking Abilities

A presentation by Michael True and respondent panelists presented May 31, 2003 in Greenwich, Connecticut. Sponsored by CPTI, Peace Action of Connecticut, Promoting Enduring Peace, and the Greenwich Forum View the transcript | pdf in US Letter format | pdf in A4 format

The Human Right of Conscientious Objection

A panel discussion presented by the NGO Working Group on Conscientious Objection at The United Nations, New York on 20 February, 2003 View the transcript | pdf

Educating Youth About Their Human Right of Conscientious Objection

Panel Discussion at the Third Preparatory Committee for the Special Session on Children United Nations, New York, June 12, 2001 View Transcript | pdf
Full program of all side events here. 20 Years of the Rio Conventions: Opportunities and Challenges
for Synergies

Presented by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
This meeting, moderated by Kirubel Teshome, ETC Group, addressed the need to strengthen global, regional and national capacity to monitor and assess the technologies required to face climate change and the environmental crisis.

Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group, said the need for technology assessments is not adequately addressed in the current zero draft of the Rio+20 outcome document. She noted current risks include companies’ practice of bringing to market inadequately assessed technology, and the need for an independent and international institution capable of carrying out these assessments. She cited examples of commercially available technologies that were released despite early warnings of potential negative consequences, such as asbestos, or nano-technology.

Michael Hansen, Consumers International, underscored the need for technology reviews, focusing on examples of negative consequences caused by genetic engineering. Noting that technology with inadequate assessments is currently in use, he emphasized the need for technology oversight.

Jessica Roe, La Via Campesina, underscored that the promotion of sustainable and traditional small farmers’ practices should be further emphasized in the context of the green economy, rather than focusing on industrial agriculture. She underscored examples where traditional and indigenous knowledge have provided valuable adaptative capacity for climate change.

Sascha Gabizon, Women in Europe for a Common Future, highlighted women and children as actors that are at risk of suffering from irresponsible technology use. She also underscored the lack of knowledge on the substances people are exposed to and the long-term consequences, providing examples such as baby products made with nano-particles.

In the ensuing discussion, participants addressed, inter alia: increased emphasis on the consideration of technology assessments in the zero draft; and risks associated with nano-particles and synthetic biology.
Photos Montanhas  Florestas Agua: Lea Correa Pinto