Towards climate neutrality in mountains

Climate change severely affects mountain regions. The need to develop territorial policies to mitigate climate change, including through energy transitions, is especially relevant given that climate governance is still state-centered and suffers from an “implementation deficit”. Since the inclusion of the Paris Agreement conditions in national political agendas, their implementation at the local level has encountered several obstacles. In mountain areas, bottom-up systematic transition processes that rest upon innovative participative and territorial models of governance can enable and enhance buy-in and cooperation. Mountain regions face a range of energy-pathway choices in the context of accelerated climate change, Nationally Determined Contributions for emissions, and mountain communities’ own development aspirations.  This session aims to gain insights into initiatives towards climate neutrality in various mountain regions around the world, discuss key challenges of policy implementation and address mountain-specific energy transitions (solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower, biomass, biochar and other forms of renewable carbon)