Exactly one year ago GRID-Arendal released an Outlook report to mark International Mountain Day, the 11th of December. Waste Management Outlook for Mountain Regions - Sources and Solutions highlighted the growing problem of waste in mountain regions, and offered some potential solutions. The report was made with UN Environment, the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) and the International Environment Technology Centre (IETC).
Where do we stand, one year on? Has the report had any impact or has it gathered dust on our office shelves? I´m happy to say that both the challenges, and also potential solutions, have gained more attention over the past year, at least partly due to the report.
At the end of November this year, two leading global bodies of the mountaineering world – the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) and the International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (IFMGA) signed a memorandum of understanding and committed to collaborating on environmental issues. These include the development and review of environmental and sustainability guidelines and holding events to address waste and pollution management in mountaineering.
This new collaboration was in part a direct response to the report, which recommended that these two bodies join forces to help address the issues of waste from tourism and recreation activities. Both organisations plan to follow up concretely by organising a series of workshops in 2018 to develop new joint projects and identify funding opportunities.
In early December, two important events took place during the annual UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi. The first was the passing of 13 (non-binding) resolutions, one of which was on marine litter and microplastics. The resolution recognises the need to take an integrated approach, which includes the source-to-sea approach which by default also covers mountainous regions .
The second was a meeting organised by UN Environment, GRID-Arendal and a number of other partners on mountain waste. The event featured a relaunch of Waste Outlook and included several governments, an indication that mountain waste issues are gaining attention within the sphere of countries with mountain regions.
Stay tuned for more updates in 2018, as we move from knowledge to action to tackle waste in the world’s mountains.
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