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