Third Pole

The mountain resources administer a wide range of ecosystem benefits and the base for the drinking water, food production and livelihoods to the 220 million inhabitants of the region, as well as indirectly to the 1.5 billion people [3] — one sixth of the world's population — living in the downstream river basins.

However, there is insufficient awareness of this risk and its potential knock-on effects outside of the impacted region; a special effort is required to increase the attention given to the fragility of the mountain social-ecological set-up.

[5] An international scientific programme called the Third Pole Environment or TPE has set up 11 ground stations and tethered balloons since 2014, working with the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing.

The consultation brought together experts from the NMHSs and key decision-makers and practitioners from the five priority areas of the GFCS (agriculture and food security, energy, health, water and disaster risk reduction).

The programme's objectives will be achieved by strengthening regional support networks and institutional capacities, developing tools and products that are needed for anticipating climate variability and change.

The programme is aligned with the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) of LDCs in the Third Pole (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar) which place agriculture followed by disaster risk reduction and water as top priority sectors for adaptation actions.