[WARSAW] There are thousands of policymakers, climate scientists, activists and journalists from all over the world gathered here in the Polish capital for the climate summit, officially known as the 19th Conference of the Parties (COP19) to discuss climate change.

As every year, everything from global temperature rises, greenhouse gas emission, ocean acidification, biodiversity conservation, farming, to scarcity of natural resources is on the agenda.

However, even when the world’s leading water researchers and policymakers meet, they are not discussing the fragile mountain ecosystems of the Himalayas where most of the big rivers of Asia originate.

“Mountains in the Himalayas are the water towers of Asia and global reservoirs of biodiversity,” said Eklabya Sharma, a director of programme operations at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), in Kathmandu, Nepal, speaking at a side event (Adaptation without Borders: Building Cooperation for Resilient Regions) at the conference.

Sharing knowledge on mountain climate still lacking