Climate change poses a serious threat to the most important aspects of life in mountain countries. These include an increase in natural disasters, threats to food security, growing hungry populations, the most vulnerable of whom are women and girls, slower economic growth, water scarcity and growing tensions between countries.

In the 21st century, mountain countries will face many challenges and problems. In this regard, it is necessary to build in advance a system of joint actions of mountain countries to prevent and mitigate them. The first thing that should be done to achieve this goal is to unite their efforts. Only joint efforts can stop the processes of gradual degradation of mountain regions in the light of climate change.

Kyrgyzstan, as a mountainous country, deeply realizes its responsibility to ensure the well-being of mountain regions and their sustainable development.

Kyrgyzstan is taking consistent steps within the framework of the UN to gradually build up the global agenda for sustainable mountain development. Since the early 2000s, Kyrgyzstan has been actively working to attract the attention of the world community to mountain issues, in particular, by the initiative of the Kyrgyz Republic the following events were held:

1. Declaring 2002 as the International Year of Mountains;

2. Holding the first Bishkek Global Mountain Summit in Bishkek in 2002;

3. Establishment of December 11 as the International Mountain Day at the 57th session of the UN General Assembly;

4. Adoption from 1998 to 2019 by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) of the 13th International Day of Mountains. Adoption by the UN General Assembly (GA) of 13 resolutions on mountain countries (A/RES/53/24, A/RES/55/189, A/RES/57/245, A/RES/58/216, A/RES/59/238, A/RES/60/198, A/RES/62/196, A/RES/64/205, A/RES/66/205, A/RES/68/217, A/71/463/Add.10, A/74/209, A/RES/77/172);

5. Formation of the Group of Friends of Mountain Countries on 29 August 2019, comprising 26 States (Afghanistan, Andorra, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Canada, Georgia, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Peru, Romania, Rwanda, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey and Switzerland);

6. At the initiative of the Kyrgyz Republic, the 76th session of the UNGA adopted a resolution to declare 2022 the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development.

7. The 77th session of the UNGA adopted a resolution to declare 2023-2027 as the “Five Years of Action for Development”. “Five Years of Action for the Development of Mountain Regions“ (”the Five Years"). The Resolution was adopted unanimously without a vote. 109 UN Member States co-sponsored it.

On our initiative and with the broad support of our mountain partners, the “Five-Year Action Plan for the Development of Mountain Regions for the period from 2023 to 2027” is currently being implemented. We have taken a systematic approach to its implementation: at the national level we are implementing the Roadmap, at the international level - the Global Action Plan, which in 2023 and 2024 were presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic at the UN headquarters in New York.

It is important for us to ensure access to health care and education, economic and social systems for the inhabitants of mountainous areas. In addition, Kyrgyzstan is initiating the creation of a Global Mountain University, the purpose of which is to create an educational platform for solving current problems facing mountain regions, training personnel, and improving the level of knowledge and qualifications of specialists who contribute to sustainable mountain development.

In turn, Kyrgyzstan does not stand aside, in this year we decided to make a modest voluntary contribution to the budget of the Secretariat of the Mountain Partnership in Rome.

Mountain initiatives of the Kyrgyz Republic were reflected in the final reports of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Thanks to the efforts of many mountain countries, the mountain agenda was included in the final document and includes five references to mountains and contains a formal request for a dialog on mountains and climate change. Also, as a result of the forum on the role of mountains under the Nairobi Work Program of the UNFCCC, “Mountains, high latitudes and the cryosphere” was declared a priority thematic area for 2024.

The key event to promote the mountain agenda on a global scale was the participation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Mr. Sadyr Zhaparov in the UN Climate Change Conference - COP29 World Leaders Summit in Baku, which demonstrated the commitment of Kyrgyzstan to address climate issues within the framework of membership in the UNFCCC and the goals of the Paris Agreement, readiness to participate in international climate processes and consistent focus in promoting the mountain agenda at the global level.

Kyrgyzstan organized its national pavilion for the first time and an extensive program of side events was held on thematic days.

International Mountain Day was established in 1992 with the adoption of Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, chapter 13 of which, entitled “Managing Vulnerable Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development”, marked a milestone in the history of mountain development.

On the margins of the COP29 on November 13 this year in Baku with the participation of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Mr. Sadyr Zhaparov a High-Level Meeting/Dialogue on Mountains and Climate was held. This High-level event was co-organized by Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and Azerbaijan, and it was also attended by the Presidents of Mongolia and Nepal.

33 countries supported the initiative of the Kyrgyz Republic on the “Call to Action to consolidate the Mountains and Climate Dialogue in the annual calendar of the UNFCCC”.

The Kyrgyz side initiated the “Declaration on Climate Change, Mountains and Glaciers”, presented on the margins of the COP29 in Baku, which was supported by 15 countries as the Final Document of the High-Level Dialogue.

Kyrgyzstan actively promotes the mountain agenda at three international platforms: the UN in New York, the FAO Mountain Partnership in Rome and the UNFCCC, a group of friends to promote mountain initiatives: the Group of Friends of Mountain Countries of the UN in New York (29 countries), at the invitation of Kyrgyzstan in this year Lesotho joined the group.

Member countries of the Mountain Partnership under the chairmanship of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat in Rome (65 countries). In this year, work was carried out to expand the Negotiating Group of the UNFCCC Mountain Partnership, established in December 2023, which initially had Kyrgyzstan and Andorra as members. Also, this year Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Mongolia joined this group. Nepal, Italy, Bhutan, Zimbabwe have expressed their willingness to join thi8s group.

The Second Global Bishkek Mountain Summit “Bishkek+25” to be held in Bishkek in 2027 was announced by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Mr. Sadyr Zhaparov at the General debates of the 78th and 79th session of the UNGA in New York.

The Kyrgyz Republic is actively announcing the holding of the Second Mountain Summit among foreign partners. Active work is being carried out to attract investments from international partners. We count on the support of the UN member states and other international and regional organizations in providing practical assistance in holding the Mountain Summit in 2027. The Kyrgyz Republic invites all countries, including, of course, the friendly Islamic Republic of Iran, to participate in the Mountain Summit at a high level.

1. Climate finance

We, the UN Member States, meet regularly to discuss climate issues and find solutions. No country remains indifferent and indifferent. But not all of us have equal conditions and opportunities to solve them and realize our climate commitments, including those undertaken within the framework of the UN Convention on Climate Change.

In this context, Kyrgyzstan fully supports the position of the esteemed UN Secretary-General on the need to reform the international financial architecture and reduce the debt burden on developing and vulnerable states.

Earlier, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic H.E. Mr. Sadyr Zhaparov initiated a mechanism to exchange external debt for climate and sustainable development projects. We propose to restructure the country's external public debt by applying debt swap mechanisms to specific green projects. We call on the parties to channel financing to address climate issues, particularly, in Kyrgyzstan.

Reference: The Kyrgyz Republic is a mountainous country. About 94 percent of the total territory of the Kyrgyz Republic are mountains, about half of the area is above 1500 m above sea level. Among them are the world-famous mountain peaks - Pobeda Peak (7439 m), Lenin (7134 m), Khan-Tengri (6995 m) and others.

"International Mountain Day - December 11"

Sustainable solutions for mountain areas - innovation, adaptation and youth participation:

For centuries, communities living in mountain areas have found solutions to adapt to harsh environments and to protect and restore biodiversity.

In 2024, the theme of the Day focuses on the potential and needs of mountain dwellers and covers three aspects.

Innovations are needed to address the complex challenges of mountain areas. They encompass both technological advances and creative problem-solving, such as climate-smart agriculture.

Climate change is affecting mountains and adaptation is becoming essential to increase resilience and reduce vulnerability. Adaptation strategies include both ecosystem-specific disaster risk reduction approaches and utilization of indigenous knowledge.

Youth participation is necessary to ensure that mountain solutions are sustainable in the long term. In 2024, the Day calls for decent work, accessible learning and entrepreneurial opportunities for youth that promote sustainable use of mountain resources.

Why we celebrate “International Mountain Day”:

Mountains are a natural treasure that we must protect. Mountain areas are home to 15% of the world's population and half of the world's biodiversity hotspots are in mountains. About half of the world's population depends on the water, food and energy resources that mountains contain.

Unfortunately, mountains are at risk from climate change, land degradation, overexploitation and natural disasters.

As the climate continues to warm, mountain people - some of the poorest in the world - face an even greater struggle to survive. Rising temperatures also mean that mountain glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate, affecting freshwater supplies for millions of people.

Progressive land degradation affects the lives of more than 311 million people living in mountainous areas of developing countries, 178 million of whom are vulnerable to food insecurity.

This problem affects all of us. We must reduce our carbon footprint and take care of these natural resources.