Stories and Solutions

Message from the Managing Director

At GRID-Arendal we believe that change will only come when people can connect and see the impacts of environmental and other changes through different eyes. One way to do this is through stories. Storytelling is an ancient art. It has been the foundation of human culture for millennia. Today, stories travel around the world in an instant. At GRID-Arendal we have stories to tell. And we’re telling them in new and different ways.

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean. In 2015, GRID-Arendal helped tell the story of why mountain ecosystems are important. We did this through an excellent new publication called the Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas launched at a high level event at the United Nations climate change conference in Paris. The Water Atlas tells the story of the importance of glaciers and the river systems they feed in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region – and the threats they face from climate change.

In a world where climate change and environmental devastation are increasingly being seen as threats to global security, GRID-Arendal can highlight some good news when West African nations that came together last year to file a joint submission on the UN Law of the Sea Convention. GRID-Arendal worked with Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone for over eight years to help build the trust and capacity needed to make this historic submission.

Contribution of snow and glacier melt to river flow Selected upper river basins of the HICAP study, average 1998–2007

Average contribution of snow melt

Upper Mekong

Upper Salween

Upper Indus

Average contribution of glacier melt

Upper Brahmaputra

Contribution to total flow Percentage

Upper Ganges

More than 80 70 to 80 60 to 70 50 to 60 40 to 50 30 to 40 20 to 30 10 to 20 Less than 10

Upper Mekong

Upper Salween

Upper Indus

Combined snow and glacier melt

Average discharge Cubic metres per second

Upper Brahmaputra

Less than 100 100 to 175 175 to 275 275 to 400 400 to 600 600 to 900 900 to 1 350 1 350 to 1 950 1 950 to 2 800 2 800 to 4 000 More than 4 000

Upper Ganges

Upper Mekong

Upper Salween

Upper Indus

Upper Brahmaputra

Upper Ganges

Source: Lutz,AF et al. (2014) 'Consistent increase inHighAsia's runoffdue to increasingglaciermelt andprecipitation.' NatureClimateChange 4: 587-592

Graphic from the Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas. Credit: GRID-Arendal/Riccardo Pravettoni

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