Snow leopards and climate action strategy

UNEP's warning that global warming is likely to breach the 1.50°C threshold within a few years, escalating climate risks and impacts to dangerously high levels, is a grim reminder of the urgent need to strengthen the conservation of snow leopards in Arunachal Pradesh as a critical climate action priority for the ecologically fragile Northeast region. The conservation of vulnerable wildlife species in the high altitudes of the Himalayan mountain range in the border state is directly linked to the conservation of crucial ecosystems that sustain rivers and river-based life and livelihoods in the region. There is hardly any room for complacency despite the presence of 36 snow leopards in Arunachal Pradesh, as even a minor retreat of the snowline could severely affect their fragile habitat and prey base. This explains why snow leopard is considered a key indicator of the health of Himalayan high-altitude landscapes, glaciers and the watersheds that feed the rivers. A number of scientific surveys and studies have found the formation of glacial lakes in the state, underscoring the growing impact of climate change and glacier melting due to the rise in temperature in those high altitudes of the Himalayas. UNEP's latest report Limiting Overshoot has cautioned that above 1.5°C, risks and impacts will intensify with every extra fraction of a degree and every year. Anticipated impacts include intensified extreme weather, ecosystem loss, and submersion of Small Island Developing States and low-lying coastal cities. Severe damage to human health, food security, water supplies, nature, cities, infrastructure, and economies is expected, according to an UNEP press release.  The report further warns that the likelihood of crossing irreversible tipping points increases with the magnitude and duration of higher temperatures. These include the destabilisation of major ice sheets, degradation of the Amazon rainforest and disruption of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (the system of currents that moves warm surface water north and cold deep water south, playing a key role in regulating the climate). ' Some impacts may emerge abruptly, while others will accumulate over time," adds the official release, highlighting what lies ahead if countries fail to act quickly to cut down fossil fuel burning and bring temperatures down. The UNEP report identifies a pathway characterised by 'overshoot, peak, and decline,' in which warming exceeds the safe limit, reaches a maximum level, and then starts to decline as countries reduce carbon emissions and adopt cleaner technologies. As cleaner technologies, such as electric vehicles, come with a higher upfront cost, developing nations find it difficult to adopt them without compromising their development goals and priorities. The developed countries, which are primarily responsible for excessive carbon emission and pushing global warming to the tipping point, bear the greatest responsibility to provide financial support to the developing nations to adopt cleaner technologies such as EVs, solar power and other renewable energy to pursue a low-carbon growth path if the global community is to meaningfully respond to UNEP's warning on the escalating climate crisis. The conservation of snow leopards and their habitat should not be viewed merely as India's climate responsibility but as a global effort to safeguard the fragile Himalayan ecosystem, a critical repository of biodiversity. Nevertheless, the UNEP report and India's own findings about snow leopards and their conservation status call for raising awareness of escalating global warming among communities in the region so that each individual plays her or his part in contributing to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions and strengthen climate action for resilience and sustainable living. Recent catastrophic floods in Nepal have highlighted the severe consequences of failing to slow the melting of Himalayan glaciers. This challenge demands a holistic approach that links the conservation of snow leopards with efforts to prevent the expansion of glacial lakes in Arunachal Pradesh, ensuring that both initiatives strengthen sustainable livelihoods not only in the Himalayan highlands but also across the downstream river basins nourished by these glaciers. The UNEP report cautions, "Years of inaction mean that even if a return to below 1.5°C is secured, irreversible losses and permanently changed conditions are certain. Many communities may be forced to relocate or change livelihoods, while societies will face the challenge of re-adjustment." If climate conferences limit themselves to negotiations without tangible outcomes and concrete commitments for measurable actions on the ground, they will serve little purpose. As the Himalayan ecosystem is critical for sustaining life and livelihoods in the region, the states of snow leopards and their habitats should be seen as a collective responsibility of all the states in the region. The Northeastern states must prioritise regional cooperation in ecosystem and biodiversity conservation, in addition to aligning their development priorities with national climate action goals. The UNEP report says that the region should put sustainable living first and help communities get better at dealing with a climate that is becoming more unpredictable.