September 2018: The Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) and the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) released a paper that presents an approach for assessing sustainable mountain development (SMD) using the SDGs as a framework. The paper uses examples from Bangladesh, Chile, Ecuador and Nepal.

The report titled, ‘Challenges and Opportunities in Assessing Sustainable Mountain Development Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals,’ aims to help contextualize and highlight the specific needs and challenges for mountain communities and ecosystems in addressing SMD. The study notes that countries often apply their own definition of mountain areas, which can make it challenging to compare results across countries. To address this challenge, the report suggests decentralizing efforts to monitor the SDGs at the regional level using a jointly agreed approach.

For over half of the SDG indicators relevant for SMD, no internationally established methodology or standards are available for data collection or data are not regularly produced.

Although three SDG targets specifically refer to mountains (target 6.6, target 15.1 and target 15.4), the report emphasizes that all SDGs should be considered for SMD. At the same time, given calls for developing subsets of indicators that can assess local progress, the report identifies a subset of SDG indicators relevant for monitoring and reporting on SMD, and discusses challenges and opportunities for reporting on these indicators. For example, for over half of the SDG indicators relevant for SMD, no internationally established methodology or standards are available for data collection or data are not regularly produced, which means that proxy data are required. The report suggests collaboration with local organizations to fill gaps in SDG data because such actors frequently have good knowledge of location conditions and sources of data. The report recommends that such indicators be relevant to SMD, applicable to different mountain regions worldwide and practical to use.

SDG target 6.6 aims to, by 2020, “protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes.” Target 15.1 aims to, by 2020, “ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements and target 15.4.” Target 15.4 seeks to, by 2030, “ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development.”

MRI and CDE produced the report as part of the Promoting Sustainable Mountain Development for Global Change (SM4GC) programme. [Publication: Challenges and Opportunities in Assessing Sustainable Mountain Development Using the UN SDGs]