{"id":20102161,"date":"2022-11-09T15:21:28","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T09:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?post_type=opinion&p=102161"},"modified":"2024-04-12T13:53:24","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T13:53:24","slug":"opinion-melting-glaciers-responsibility-must-be-shared-globally","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/opinion-melting-glaciers-responsibility-must-be-shared-globally\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Melting glaciers are a global problem \u2013 responsibility must be shared globally"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the world\u2019s glaciers melt rapidly, almost without exception, the global response to this existential threat is worryingly lethargic<\/a>. This begs the question: where does responsibility for action lie? Should the communities experiencing the immediate dangers caused by melting glaciers be left to face these threats on their own?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, this is what is happening. Even as global declarations are signed and platitudes spoken, USD 100 billion-dollar promises<\/a> are being broken and glaciers continue to melt. As glaciers melt, lakes can form from the meltwater, which may be released suddenly in a glacial lake outburst flood with catastrophic effects on communities downstream. Eventually, the runoff from the glacier decreases, the river discharge shrinks, and downstream communities are left with too little water. Rivers run dry or run riot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the face of such challenges, mountain and downstream communities have had to work together. They have taken a polycentric approach<\/a>. This concept, advanced by Nobel Prize-winning economist Elinor Ostrom, means dividing the challenges of climate change into manageable components. It theorises that if multiple groups undertake many activities at different scales, then the sum of these activities makes a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A polycentric approach to Himalayan glaciers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Addressing the impacts of melting glaciers collectively is complicated. Glaciers are often located at the highest elevations in a region, and this is also often where national borders are drawn. What happens when upstream and downstream communities are in different countries? Sending information through official channels can take too long.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many communities have learned that it is more efficient to act collectively, and at a local, informal level. For example, in Bhutan community groups use WhatsApp<\/a> to share information about cloudbursts and high river levels with people across the border in Assam, India. In fact, Bhutan and India already cooperate at the governmental level<\/a> too, with flood-warning stations in Bhutan sending information to stations in West Bengal and Assam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n