At the Seventh Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership in Andorra, March 2026, members adopted a landmark Declaration to accelerate sustainable development in the world’s mountain regions.
Exploring different laws from around the world, the brief offers a snapshot of legislative action supporting mountain ecosystems and communities in the wake of climate change. These laws span different sectors and have a variety of beneficiaries, depending on the specific needs of the countries. This brief is practical source of inspiration for effective climate-responsive policies.
Mountain ecosystems are vital to global water, food, and energy security yet face intensifying climate, biodiversity, and pollution pressures. This report traces ridge‑to‑river impacts, integrates cutting‑edge evidence and proposes inclusive, science‑based policy pathways that empower women, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and youth to build resilient, sustainable mountain futures worldwide.
The GHE Annual Report 2025 highlights progress in delivering clean energy, sustainable livelihoods, education, healthcare and responsible tourism across remote, climate-vulnerable regions of India.
This commentary examines the experiences and leadership of mountain women in Kenya and Tanzania, drawing on participatory feminist research under the Mountain Women of the World initiative. It highlights their role in driving local innovations despite exclusion from land rights, tourism economies and governance, and calls for policies that recognize mountain women as key actors in climate resilience and sustainable mountain development.
Mountain ecosystems are degrading rapidly due to climate variability and human activity. Current monitoring under SDG 15 using SEPAL excludes soil data, limiting accuracy. Using Colorado as a case study, this research integrates soil information into land degradation analysis, revealing higher degradation levels and highlighting the need to include both inherent and anthropogenic degradation.
This issue of African Mountainscapes and the Anthropocene gathers scholarly articles that examine political, social and economic dynamics in Southern Africa, with a focus on inequality, governance, social movements and historical legacies shaping contemporary development challenges in the region.
In this position paper, CIRAD, in collaboration with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 (IYRP) working group express their shared commitment to supporting private and public actors who work alongside pastoral communities.
This publication explores how mountain tourism is transforming under climate change. The issue highlights adaptation strategies, natural capital assessment, governance challenges and community perspectives, emphasizing sustainable tourism, ecosystem resilience and improved policy coordination to support mountain environments and livelihoods in vulnerable regions worldwide.
This study explores how climate change is altering mountain water cycles and the resulting impacts on downstream ecosystems and water use. It identifies key challenges for adaptation and highlights priority research needs to strengthen understanding of linked mountain-downstream water systems in a changing climate.
Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on sustainable mountain development at the 80th Session. A/RES/80/144
This United Nations Environment Assembly draft resolution (UNEP/EA.7/L.15) addresses the urgent need to preserve glaciers and the broader cryosphere, with an emphasis on mountain regions. Against the backdrop of accelerated glacier loss driven by climate change and its cascading effects on biodiversity, water security, disaster risk and cultural heritage, the resolution highlights the interconnected nature of cryospheric degradation and global environmental challenges.
This technical brief examines the links between glaciers, agriculture and livelihoods, and highlights the potential of sustainable mountain farming to restore ecosystems, conserve resources and build resilience.
The report highlights the growing importance of smallholder tree-farming systems in meeting the region’s rising wood demand amid declining natural forest production and plateauing industrial plantations. Drawing on regional analysis and nine case studies, it examines how diverse smallholder systems, from woodlots to homegardens, contribute to timber supply, livelihoods, and environmental sustainability.
Mountains cover 27 percent of Earth and support 1.2 billion people, yet climate change intensifies floods, landslides, and glacial outburst risks. Their fragility and isolation heighten vulnerability, making disaster-resilient infrastructure crucial. The report urges technological, ecological and Indigenous approaches, stronger governance, inclusive planning and innovative financing to protect communities and ecosystems.
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This technical brief provides an updated global assessment of mountain population trends from 2000 to 2030, using the UNEP–WCMC mountain classification. The global mountain population is projected to reach 1.24 billion by 2030. These dynamics call for inclusive territorial planning, investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and stronger data systems to advance sustainable mountain development and support the Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions (2023–2027).
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This publication quantifies global lowland reliance on mountain runoff at monthly resolution (1990–2019), distinguishing essential and potential contributions. It reveals strong seasonality, spatial heterogeneity, disproportionate importance of high mountains and a growing dependence of lowland water use on mountain-origin runoff.
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This publication uses global simulations to examine lowland dependence on mountain runoff across major river basins, showing lower interannual variability in mountains, increased reliance during dry years and rising absolute dependence under future socio-economic change, with implications for transboundary water conflicts.
Rangelands are increasingly threatened by environmental pressures, restrictive land-use policies and the erosion of traditional pastoralist systems. This resolution recognizes that sustainable pastoralism is essential for conserving and restoring rangelands, supporting biodiversity and community resilience. It commits IUCN to advocating sustainable governance, raising awareness and strengthening partnerships with pastoralist communities.
Mountain ecosystems are among the most sensitive and rapidly changing environments on the planet, facing compound and simultaneous pressures from climate change and biodiversity loss. Despite their extreme vulnerability, these landscapes are essential for global resilience. This Policy Brief argues that preserving biodiversity and combating climate change are inseparable processes that must be addressed in an integrated manner.
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