Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Hindu Kush Himalaya

Tourism Some HKH countries – Bangladesh, China and Nepal – have begun to recognize climate change related impacts as limiting factors for the tourism sector, although the focus is mainly on improving the sector’s environmental sustainability, rather than ‘climate- proofing’ it from the adverse impacts of climate change (see chapter 2). For example, Bhutan’s High Value, Low Impact Policy uses financial mechanisms to control the volume of tourists and protect fragile local environments. Meanwhile, China’s Tourism Policy (2013–2020) aims to provide a better setting for national tourism and leisure, whereas Myanmar’s Responsible TourismPolicy and TourismMaster Plan (2013–2020) focus on environmental protection. In addition, Nepal’s Tourism Policy promotes the sustainable use of national heritage (i.e. natural and cultural places) and its Tourism Vision 2020 emphasizes that women and marginalized groups should also benefit from the sector. Chapter 3 has described the numerous global agreements and programmes to address climate change, including efforts to increase communities’ resilience and their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. Discussions onadaptation- related policies have also underlined the importance of multilateral processes such as the SDGs. However, the policy analysis in this chapter reveals that many mountain-relevant issues are poorly represented in existing country-led processes and policies for the HKH countries, including their NAPs and INDCs. One obvious explanation is that policies that affect mountain communities are often formulated outside the mountainous area, while the entire HKH region struggles to be appropriately represented in the IPCC and other global forums. For example, scientists from the region represented less than 6 per cent of

Climbers on Stok Kangri Mountain, Ladakh, India

all expert reviewers of the AR4 assessment reports (IPCC, 2014). Hence, there is a need for broader inclusion of scientists from these countries on global platforms and initiatives to advocate for the region. Such participation can provide the opportunity to highlight mountain-relevant issues and the need to include them as a key consideration in planning for future practices and global action on climate change adaptation in the HKH. The policy analysis underlines the need to strengthen mechanisms within the HKH countries themselves to address climate change hazards and adaptation

specifically for mountain areas, by revealing several sector-relevant adaptation gaps (a detailed gap analysis is provided in chapter 4). The analysis has not attempted to investigate each and every existing policy in terms of its effectiveness. However, expert opinion gathered in the process of producing this Outlook 8 indicates that adaptation policies across the HKH vary greatly in terms of their coverage, effectiveness, resources, targets, institution and capacity, anticipatory approach, and mountain specificity. As the table on the next page is based only on the respondents’ feedback, the key climate concerns are not the same as the complete list provided in the tables in this chapter.

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