Mountain specific program development

• Various development programs have been initiated under the collaboration of government of Nepal and different NGOs and INGOs.
• The mainly focused programs are

1) Adaptation programs in mountain areas;

• Climate change is already having an impact on the economic, social, and ecological well-being of communities and needs immediate action for long-term adaptation
• Pledge was made in the Copenhagen Accord to provide USD 30 billion for the period from 2010-2012 for adaptation and mitigation; a further sum to assist developing countries of USD 100 billion a year by 2010 has also been promised .
• National Adaptation Programs of Action (NAPA) in most countries were prepared to reduce climate- related hazards and to enhance the resilience of mountain communities to climate change.

2) Global and regional responsibility for black carbon

• Deposit of soot or black carbon on snow and ice surface reduce the albedo process and enhance global warming.
• Decrease in glacial albedo and the resulting heat can cause an increase in annual snowmelt.
• Much of the black carbon is emitted from the lowlands where agricultural, transportation, and industrial processes are more intensified and the population is denser.
• The main source of emission of black carbon or soot, other than from fossil fuel combustion, is from biomass-based energy systems (use of biofuel) . In addition, in some regions of the world, it is common practice to burn agricultural residues in the field and/or burn trees for deforestation.
• Black carbon is one of the principal components of atmospheric brown clouds (ABC), i.e., transboundary regional-scale plumes of air pollutants able to affect regional climate, hydrological cycles, glacial melting, agriculture, and human health

3) Maintenance of forests, agriculture, and rangelands

• Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation’ (REDD+), extends the window for supporting mitigation through afforestation and reforestation.
• Investment on biogas reduce forest destruction and reduce the exposer of women and children from indoor smoke pollution.
• Rangelands can act as both sinks and sources of GHG, so its management is necessary. So, Regional forest development programs has been established by FAO/UNDP to address the problem of herders, environment, livestock.

4) Payment for environmental services (PES)

• PES is an incentive-based mechanism that is being promoted throughout the developing world by claiming that the provision of economic incentives is vital to bring about sustainable management of ecosystems, and thus lead to improved livelihoods.
• The green economy recognizes the value of the ecosystems in the production of goods and services for downstream economies and for securing overall human wellbeing at local, national, regional, and global scales.
• This recognition provides an opening for mountain people to be duly compensated and rewarded for stewardship of mountain ecosystems and their services.