Switzerland and Austria join forces to promote global sustainable development in mountain regions
Bern, 13.11.2013 - Switzerland and Austria intend to step up their cooperation to share their experience of the sustainable development of mountain regions with as many people living in mountain regions around the world as possible. In addition, they want to raise political leaders' awareness of the specific needs of mountain regions. On 13 November 2013, Martin Dahinden, director-general of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and Martin Ledolter, managing director of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), signed an agreement to this effect.
The agreement provides, among other things, for joint publications on the sustainable development of mountain regions in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern. The primary focus will be on issues such as sustainable mountain tourism and family-based agricultural production. "Both Austria and Switzerland have a wealth of historically acquired expertise on the sustainable development of mountain regions", emphasised SDC director-general Martin Dahinden upon signing the agreement. "They therefore also have a certain moral obligation to less prosperous mountainous countries."
Martin Ledolter, managing director of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), added, “The outcome document of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro 2012 described mountain regions as regions that will need special support in the coming decades. The close cooperation between Swiss and Austrian development cooperation agencies to promote the exchange of expertise among mountain regions enables us to follow up this declaration of intent with concrete action.”
This strategic alliance between the two states also aims to further embed the issue of the sustainable development of mountain regions in the current international discussion, particularly within the framework of the formulation of sustainable development goals for the post-2015 agenda. Switzerland and Austria are thus taking due account of the great significance of mountain regions for global development. Mountain regions cover approximately a quarter of the earth's surface, are home to one fifth of the world's population, and are a source of water for more than half of humanity. All too often, however, these regions are neglected and their inhabitants struggle with poverty, hunger and the increasingly palpable negative effects of climate change. But the problems of mountain regions also affect the inhabitants of low-lying regions, for example through the pollution of drinking water or floods resulting from improper land use practices.
Switzerland has promoted sustainable development in mountain regions for decades. Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, Switzerland has been involved in specific projects in mountain contexts for more than 50 years. In Nepal, for example, the SDC is helping to improve the lives of poor and marginalised people in remote villages by giving them access to the road network. In Bhutan, the "Participatory Forest Management" project supports the setting-up of community forest management groups. In the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region, the SDC is conducting, in collaboration with a regional research centre, important basic research work to gain a better understanding of the phenomenon of retreating glaciers and to take preventive measures.
Since the first Rio conference in 1992, more importance has been attached at the global level to mountain regions. Agenda 21, for example, contains a chapter on the sustainable development of mountain regions, and the Rio+20 document of 2012 devotes three paragraphs to the issue. Switzerland has continuously supported the global mountain agenda since 1992, and will continue to do so in the future.
Two further events on the theme of the sustainable development of mountain regions will take place in the near future with the support of the SDC. On 11 December 2013, International Mountain Day will be observed with three events in Verbier, Scuol and the Swiss Alpine Museum in Bern. In addition, in 2014 the second World Mountain Forum will take place in Cusco (Peru) with the support of Switzerland.
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