Celebrating International Mountain Day

The annual International Mountain Day will be held today, Friday 11 December, with the mountain community throughout the world engaged in initiatives to celebrate and raise awareness about mountain life.

The theme proposed this year is ‘Promoting mountain products for better livelihoods’ with details provided at the following link.
As part of its commitment to climate change, the UIAA is currently present in Paris at COP21, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. On International Mountain Day at its booth ‘Call from the Mountains’, the UIAA will welcome leaders, representatives from national and international NGOs, journalists, politicians and all citizens in attendance at the event to rope up together.

Roping up is standard practice in mountaineering. It’s the best way to reach a summit, by facing difficulties and dangers together. This rope embodies the need for emergency action in order to preserve our mountains. Mountaineers will support strong political decisions. Nobody can face the challenges of global warming without solidarity. The aim is to demonstrate the strength of their determination to combat global warming and to invite governments to take into consideration the need of mountain preservation.

The event will take place at 11:30 on Friday 11 December at the Call from the Mountains booth (A23) in the Climate Generation Area.

Details on the UIAA’s involvement at COP21 and climate change is available here.

Meanwhile, individual UIAA member federations will carry out their own initiatives. This includes the Club Alpino Italiano (CAI) who will mark the day by encouraging their members to promote initiatives around sustainable development and environmental protection of mountains. The CAI has also played a fundamental role in ensuring mountains feature in the Milan Charter within the framework of the EXPO2015. Further details here.