Abiding by nature, not national borders: Institution building in the Himalayas

Research output: Book/ReportReport

Abstract

Mountains are hard to govern. National boundaries rarely reflect mountain geography and carve mountains into ecologically and socially incomplete sections. Mountain ecosystems, glaciers, rivers and communities are deeply intertwined, bearing all the complexity of systems that have evolved over millennia. Understanding this complexity and then governing it is an especially challenging task. In the Himalayas, the borders that divide the mountains are hard and sometimes militarized, and states have traditionally only been mildly interested in cooperating on cross-border issues, such as melting glaciers because of global warming, river basin governance, and disasters.

Regionally owned institutions attempt to bridge these jurisdictional divides. The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), based in Kathmandu, does this by presenting a unified picture of natural systems that evolved independently of the modern nation-state. In doing so, ICIMOD attempts to force state machineries to adopt a higher vantage point and think about problems and solutions as though borders do not exist. This project is difficult because states are naturally inclined to act to preserve their interests.

ICIMOD is a unique regional institution; on its board sit eight Himalayan nations – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. It has managed not only to function but grow in the 35 years since it was founded despite the somewhat precarious relationships between countries on its board. It is the face of a large network of researchers across the region, coordinating and disseminating scientific evidence on the region’s dire vulnerabilities to climate change.

The Himalayas, which include some of the highest peaks on earth, have an outsized influence on South Asia and beyond. The Himalayas indirectly support about 1.9 billion people through rivers that culminate in the East China Sea in the east, and the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan in the west. But relatively little scientific data is yet available about the impact of warming temperatures and the implications for ecosystems, societies, politics, and even borders in the region.

This case study is based on 11 interviews with ICIMOD’s leadership and senior staff, and a former Indian environment minister. Interviews were supplemented by reviews of ICIMOD’s annual reports, independent f ive-year reviews, academic papers, and program reports.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherWorld Bank
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2021

Publication series

NameGood Neighbours: Advancing Regional Integration, Cooperation and Enlargement in South Asia
PublisherWorld Bank

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