Transboundary climate risks and adaptation in mountain areas: a brief for Parties and Observers to the UNFCCC

Transboundary climate impacts, and the risks they generate within and beyond mountain areas, are of rising concern in international climate change negotiations. These risks are highly relevant to the adaptation needs of all countries.
This brief is intended for Parties and Observers to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It articulates what transboundary climate risks are, why they matter, and their relevance for different negotiation tracks – including proposed calls for action.
These negotiation tracks represent important and appropriate entry points for raising transboundary climate risks and advancing the mountain agenda at the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) and beyond.
With many groups making transboundary climate risks, a priority – even working towards the development of common positions – negotiators have an opportunity to raise the specific needs and concerns of their countries and take steps to assure their region’s future climate resilience.
There is a strong rationale for negotiators to raise transboundary climate risks and the adaptation needs of mountain communities at COP29 and beyond. The authors provide three compelling arguments.
- Transboundary climate risks and adaptation in mountain areas are increasingly highlighted in Party submissions to the UNFCCC. Many countries are already a part of this growing and diverse coalition. But strengthening the world’s resilience to transboundary climate risks will require bold and coordinated efforts.
- Transboundary climate risks and adaptation in mountain areas are gaining increasing traction on the world stage. There is momentum to harness but also a risk of deepening long-held divides.
- Raising transboundary climate risks and adaptation in mountain areas in the negotiations could lead to breakthroughs on otherwise intractable negotiating issues.