Mountains and Green Economy

The “International Conference on Green Economy and Sustainable Mountain Development: Opportunities and Challenges in View of Rio+20,” recently brought together international, regional and national experts and policy-makers in Kathmandu (Nepal) to discuss the relevance and scope of the green economy in the context of sustainable mountain development. An outcome of the two-day workshop and one-day Conference was the “Kathmandu Declaration on Green Economy and Mountain Development," which includes recommendations to feed into the UNCSD (Rio+20) process regarding:
- the recognition of benefits derived from mountains;
- the establishment of global, regional, national and local mechanisms to compensate and reward mountain communities for the services mountains provide;
- the establishment of favorable conditions for improving markets for mountain ecosystem goods and services;
- a green economy in mountains based on equity; and
- access to resources and property rights for mountain women, indigenous communities and marginalized groups.

Further information

Assessing biodiversity offset and compensatory mitigation programs

"State of Biodiversity Markets" takes stock of the status and trends of biodiveristy offset and compensatory mitigation programs by geographic region. The report summarizes the total active programs and developing activities, and broad metrics such as total known payments and land area protected or restored. Full report