International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development

Kathmandu, Nepal

HI-AWARE

Himalayan Adaptation, Water and

Resilience Research on Glacier

and Snowpack Dependent River

Basins for Improving Livelihoods

HI-AWARE Goal

• Enhance the adaptive capacities and

climate resilience of the vulnerable

• in the mountains and plains of the

river basins of the Hindu Kush

Himalaya (HKH) region,

• through the development of robust

evidence to inform people-centred

and gender sensitive climate change

adaptation policies and practices.

Photo Source: S. Kohshima (1982) and K. Fujita (1996, 2008, 2009)

The Hindu Kush Himalayas

210 million

people in the

HKH region

1.3 billion

people

downstream

The Third Pole:

Climate Change Hotspot

The third pole on earth

- an area of extraordinary

beauty and a world heritage

site of cultural and

biodiversity

Himalayan glaciers are sources

of freshwater reserves for 10

major river systems in Asia – a

lifeline for almost one third of

humanity

Himalayan glaciers are shrinking

Note: Brackets include name of glacier or region with associated number/area (km2) of glaciers studied if more than one single glacier;

U=Uttarakhand, HP=Himachal Pradesh Source: Miller et al. (2011)

Source: Immerzeel et al., 2011

Contributions Glacier and Snow

Melt to Runoff 1998-2007

Seasonality, critical moments

Source: FutureWater, ICIMOD, 2013

Upstream – Downstream

• Changes in the mountains impact people

living downstream

• Shrinking of glaciers leads to increased

streamflow (peak melt 2050 – 2070) +

GLOFs

• A shift in timing of high precipitation events,

falling as rain rather than snow, can lead to

floods as well

Increased high rainfall

events

Increased temperatures

and extremes

Variability in monsoon

Outcomes and Impacts

HI-AWARE Impact:

Enhanced climate change resilience and adaptive

capacities in the HKH region

HI-AWARE Outcomes:

1) Up-scaling and out-scaling of institutional and on-

the-ground adaptation innovations

2) Improved policies and practices that help vulnerable

populations to adapt to climate change

WP 1: Generate Knowledge

• Generate science-based and people-

centred knowledge, with an explicit focus on

gender and livelihoods,

• on climate change impacts and

adaptation measures in the mountains and

plains of the rivers basins of the HKH region

• through integrative, stakeholder-driven,

and policy-oriented research

WP 2: Research Uptake

• To promote the uptake of the robust

evidence generated in WP 1

• through developing synergies between

science-based knowledge and

adaptation practices of communities

• to shape improved policies and

practices that help vulnerable populations

to adapt to climate change.

WP 3: Strengthen Expertise

• To further strengthen the scientific

expertise in climate change adaptation

and resilience research in the region

• to contribute to improving climate change

adaptation science-policy-practice

networks in the HKH region.

Overall Programme Design

Approach

Tackling

Vulnerability

through

Adaptation

leads to

Increased

Resilience

Climate and Adaptation Research

• Biophysical drivers and conditions leading to

vulnerability CC Impacts (glacier/snow melt,

T, p, Q, )

• Socio economic and governance drivers and

conditions leading to vulnerability

• Basin scale integrated assessment to identify

critical moments and regions (supply/demand),

us/ds linkages and extreme events

• Barriers and bridges to sustainable adaptation

approaches (Critical Moments, Adaptation

Turning Points and Adaptation Pathways)

CMs, ATPs and APs

Critical Moments:

• The time dimension of adaptation: a better understanding of the timing of impacts and exceedanceof thresholds is essential

• We have a rough idea of what is going to change and feasible adaptation measures, but we do not know when and how much time is left before action is needed

CMs, ATPs and APs

Adaptation Turning Points:

• ATPs focuses on when current policies and practices are no longer able to meet their objectives and alternative strategies have to be considered.

• This approach is more people-centred and adaptation-focussed than previous top-down climate change impact and vulnerability assessments and can be more easily tailored for policy advice.

CMs, ATPs and APs

Adaptation Pathways:

• APs highlight how much time

people have to adapt, what is

pressing and what can be delayed.

• Integrate flexible adaptation

pathways with other policy

trajectories, identifying coinciding

windows of opportunities. This will

link adaptation to the wider

development context.

Site Selection

• High Altitude – Hills – Plains

• From West to East

• Tributaries flowing from North to South

• Build on current work but also move into

“new” areas

• Not too many sites, but enough to cover

diversity and go where the innovations are

• Not only site-based research, also basin

level and policy analysis and CC

downscaling

Why are we excited?

• Because of the consortium, bringing together the four countries

• Enhanced regional cooperation and capacity building in South Asia

• Better understanding of links of glaciers and communities (real research on upstream – downstream linkages)

• Evidence-based, innovation-oriented

• Working with all of you, the CARIAA wide programme (local – global)

Thank you