Mountains play a key role in sustainable development, and their importance will increase in future. As water towers of the world, mountains will play a crucial role in providing fresh water for a growing number of people, for industrial development, and for agriculture and irrigation in mountains and downstream areas. Food security, poverty alleviation, and, ultimately, political stability will thus be critically linked to mountain resources, and hence to the development taking place in mountain areas. Mountains will also continue to play an important role as hotspots of biodiversity. Increasing urbanisation within mountains will put additional stress on scarce resources such as water.
At the same time, mountains are characterised by specific development challenges. Typically, these include difficult access, economic and political marginality, outmigration, environmental sensitivity, diversity of livelihoods, and cultural diversity. These challenges need to be addressed by specific policies, laws, and institutional arrangements at the international, national, and local levels.