Parallel Session 7: Mountain risk assessment and monitoring

Mountains are among the most dynamic and fragile systems on the planet. These regions are increasingly vulnerable to cascading hazards like landslides, floods, glacial lake outbursts, and avalanches. Climate change amplifies these risks, endangering infrastructure, ecosystems, and the lives and livelihoods of mountain communities, and the billions downstream. The IPCC’s sixth assessment report (2023) underscored that at 2oC, nearly all mountain regions will face at least moderate risk, with some experiencing higher risks. These projected changes in hazards and the water cycle highlight the critical need for mountain risk assessment and monitoring for sustainable development.

For example, the HKH region is projected to lose two-thirds of its glaciers by the end of the century under high-emission scenarios. Recent disaster events, namely, the Chamoli disaster in India (2021), the Melamchi flood in Nepal (2021), the Indus flood in Pakistan (2022), the Sikkim disaster in India (2023), and floods in Central Nepal (2024), demonstrate this region’s critical challenges.

In Nepal’s case, frequent landslides, floods, and glacial lake outbursts floods (GLOFs) pose enormous challenges. The 2024 GLOF near Thame in the Everest region and floods in Central Nepal exposed disaster vulnerabilities in both village and urban areas. Earlier that year, at the start of the monsoon, the far western region received 624 mm of rain in 24 hours, the highest record in Nepal. These extreme events underscore the urgent need for effective risk assessment and monitoring in mountains to support global early warning systems and the protection of mountain communities and beyond.

Climate change disproportionately affects marginalized communities, including women, indigenous groups, and low-income households. These groups often have limited access to information, resources, and decision-making processes. Engaging these communities in designing and implementing early warning systems can enhance their effectiveness build long-term resilience and ensure no one is left behind.

Objectives:

  1. Highlight the importance of mountain risk assessment and monitoring in enhancing resilience to climate-induced disasters.
  2. Provide a platform to discuss the challenges, opportunities, and innovations in disaster risk assessment in mountainous regions.
  3. Inspire actionable solutions for safer, more sustainable mountain communities through dialogue and knowledge sharing.

Moderator

DR. VISHNU PRASAD PANDEY

Professor, Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University

Dr. Vishnu Prasad Pandey, a civil engineer specializing in hydrology, water resources, and climate risk assessment, is a Professor at Tribhuvan University’s Department of Civil Engineering and Director at the Center for Applied Research and Development (CARD). He is an Editor-in-Chief of the “Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies.” Previously, he was a Water & Climate Specialist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). With over 90 peer-reviewed articles, 4100 citations, and an h-index of 37, he received the Young Scientist Award from NAST in 2018. He serves as a member of the Academic Council of Tribhuvan University. He holds a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from IOE Pulchowk, an M. Eng. from AIT, and a PhD in Integrated River Basin Management from the University of Yamanashi.

Keynote Speaker

PROF. RAJIB SHAW

Professor, University of Keio

Rajib Shaw is a professor in Graduate School of Media and Governance of Keio University, Japan. He is co-founder of a Delhi based social entrepreneur startup, Resilience Innovation Knowledge Academy (RIKA), and founder and chair of the board of SEEDS Asia, a Japanese NGO. He is the Co-chair of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Asia Pacific Science Technology Advisory Group (AP-STAG), and CLA for IPCC’s 6th Assessment Report. Professor Shaw has 83 books and more than 450 research papers in the field of environment, disaster management and climate change. He is the editor in chief of Progress in Disaster Science. Professor Shaw is the recipient of “Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA)” in 2021 for his contribution in education sector. PBSA is the highest honor conferred on overseas Indian and person of Indian origin from the President of India. He also received United Nations Sasakawa Award in 2022 for his lifetime contributions in the field of disaster risk reduction. More about his work can be found in: www.rajibshaw.org  

Panelists

Dr. Niels Hovius

Chief, German Research Center for Geosciences

A geographer and geologist trained at Utrecht (NL) and Oxford (UK) universities, Niels Hovius investigates the dynamics of the Earth’s surface and the role of surface processes in the Earth’s system.   He combines geomorphological, geophysical and geochemical approaches to probe the mechanisms of individual surface processes, their interplay, and the resulting matter fluxes, considers their links with lithosphere deformation, atmospheric composition and processes, and ecosystem dynamics, and addresses the attendant natural hazards.  For fundamental contributions to understanding of extreme events, links between seismicity and mass wasting, and erosion and weathering, and his role in establishing the fields of Earth Surface Dynamics and Environmental Seismology, Hovius has won international accolades including the Bagnold Medal of the European Geosciences Union and the Kirk Brian award of the Geological Society of America.  He is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, a member of the German Academy of Science and Technology, and a Helmholtz Distinguished Professor at the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences and the University of Potsdam.

Dr. Tao Wang

Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), China

Tao Wang works for the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) as the Director and Research Professor of the Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification. He holds a Ph.D. in Physical Geography in 1988 from the Institute of Desert Research, CAS. He was the Director General of the Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, CAS (2003-2012) and is the President of Lanzhou Branch of CAS (2011). Through the research for 30 years on the fields of aeolian desertification such as the key basic scientific issues, physical and biological process, monitoring and assessing, combating policy and strategy and approach, he has made significant contributions for understanding and combating the process of desertification in China. He is also involved in the board of many associations linked with desert and desertification research, training and development in the domestic and overseas.

Ms. Emily Mark

Senior Geological Engineer, BGC Engineering Inc, Canada

Emily Mark, M.Sc., P.Eng. (BC, AB), is a specialist in steep creek hazard assessment, risk assessment and mitigation design with over 10 years of experience at BGC. She has been involved in geohazard assessment and geohazard mitigation design for communities, mining and transportation sector clients in Alberta, BC, Chile and Argentina, including most recently as the project manager for the Cheekeye Fan debris-flow mitigation project in Squamish, BC. Emily is committed to finding cost-effective and practical solutions for geohazard management challenges.

Dr. Simon Allen

Senior Research Associate, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Dr. Simon Allen is a Senior Research Associate at the Universities of Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland, where his work focuses on climate impacts and disaster risk management, particularly in developing regions of the world and in high mountain environments. Over the past decade, he has worked alongside various local stakeholders to undertake integrated climate risk assessments as a basis for adaptation planning and sustainable development in South and Central Asia, the Andes, and Tibet.

His skills range from the modelling and assessment of flood, GLOF, and landslide risk, through to participatory studies engaging with local communities to understand adaptation needs. He has led the development of International Guidelines for the Assessment of Glacier and Permafrost Hazards and is engaged in the design of Early Warning Systems in several countries. Recent and ongoing project partners have included the Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, UNESCO, GIZ, SDC, and UK Aid.

In addition, he has been involved in various roles with the IPCC since 2009, including as an editor and author of the 2012 Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX), and as a contributing author to the 6th Assessment Report. He obtained his PhD in Geography from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, in 2009.