Opening ceremony of the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development

28/04/2022 28/04/2022

Thursday, 28 April 2022
15.30–17.00 CEST
Zoom details: https://fao.zoom.us/j/96191626613
Meeting ID: 961 9162 6613
Passcode: 33178841

The United Nations General Assembly declared the year 2022 as the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development, at the proposal of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic. The resolution was sponsored by 94 governments and was adopted at the plenary meeting of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 16 December 2021.

The resolution invites Member States, organizations of the United Nations system, other international organizations and stakeholders, including civil society, private sector and academia, to observe the International Year to increase awareness of the importance of sustainable mountain development and the conservation and sustainable use of mountain ecosystems. It furthermore invites the Mountain Partnership, in collaboration with all relevant organizations, to facilitate the observance of the International Year.

This global high-level event will be a chance to launch the celebrations of the Year and promote global commitments towards the protection of these vulnerable ecosystems and the building of resilience of mountain peoples.

Event agenda

Moderator: Jake Norton, Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador, climber, photographer and filmmaker

Musical interlude

• Italian Alpine Marching Band

 
High-level segment

• Roberto Natali, Plenipotentiary Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy and Chair of the Mountain Partnership Steering Committee
• QU Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Sadyr Japarov, President, Kyrgyz Republic
• António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, statement read by Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• Abdulla Shahid, President of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Maldives
• Maria Ubach Font, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andorra
• Tandi Dorji, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bhutan
• Orlando Jorge Mera, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Dominican Republic
• Sam Cheptoris, Minister for Water and the Environment, Uganda
• Dinara Kemelova, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kyrgyz Republic
• Pem Narayan Kandel, Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Nepal
• Christian Hofer, Director General, Federal Office for Agriculture, Switzerland
• Jared Polis, Governor of Colorado, United States of America

 
Mountains Matter: mobilising action for sustainable mountain development

• Supporting climate-resilient development in mountains – Carolina Adler, Executive Director, Mountain Research Initiative
• Climate funding for mountains – Yannick Glemarec, Executive Director, Green Climate Fund
• Enhancing mountain value chains – Yoko Watanabe, Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme Global Manager, United Nations Development Programme
• Fostering partnerships for change – Luis Benitez, Vice President for Government Affairs and Global Impact, VF Corporation

Concluding remarks

• A future for mountains – Dilshodbegim Khusravova, Mountain Partnership Youth Goodwill Ambassador, Aga Khan Agency for Habitat volunteer

Musical finale

• Landry Riba and Elisa Mas, Mountains of Music

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