Extract from the Position Paper

WSSD 2002 - 5 -Positionen der Schweiz Erarbeitungsstand 22. März 2002Alps as a signatory of the Alpine Convention. Therefore, sharing our own experience, cooperatingin adapting this experience to the needs of other mountain regions, and showing solidarity andengaging in partnership with mountain people throughout the world constitute an opportunity aswell as an international obligation.c) Mountain development as a key interface of sustainable developmentSustainable development in mountain regions is a pervasive issue. It touches on all the priorityareas to which Switzerland is committed in the framework of Rio+10, i.e. freshwater resources,international environmental issues – especially sustainable management of fragile ecosystems,global climate change, biodiversity, and sustainable forest management – poverty alleviation, andtrade-related issues, especially market access for marginal regions. Other important issues arequestions of governance, especially decentralisation and subsidiarity, as well as the participation ofcivil society, the private sector and the scientific community in political decision-making processes.2. Political positions taken by Switzerland in support of sustainable development inmountain regionsa) Mountains – an environment for learning about and implementing principles ofsustainabilityNature has always played a dominant role in the mountains. Despite the advances of moderntechnology and civilisation, economic and social conditions are more directly affected by naturalphenomena in mountain regions than in any other environment, and people living in mountainregions are more intensely and immediately affected by natural conditions than people elsewhere.Switzerland therefore believes that sustainable development in mountain regions constitutes anarea of endeavour that is fundamental to learning about and implementing the principle ofsustainable development, which must give equal consideration to natural, social and economicconditions – the thee main components of sustainability. This will involve fostering integration ofdifferent sectors and policies and applying resulting concepts and approaches appropriately inother development contexts.b) Recognition of mountain regions as important, specific areas of developmentThe driving forces of mountain development are very often dominated by the interests of politicaland economic centres and densely populated urban centres; moreover, these forces are usuallynot beholden to principles of sustainability. Hence if sustainable development is to be possible inmountain regions at all, the political status of the world’s mountain regions must be enhanced,especially at the national level.Switzerland is committed to national political frameworks that enable mountain regions to advocatetheir interests as equal partners, especially vis à vis centres of political and economic power.Federalism, decentralisation, subsidiarity, local self-government and accountability,acknowledgment of local rights to resources and targeted economic development are the coreconcepts in such frameworks. Ultimately, these concepts must be concretely expressed in anational policy for mountain regions. Switzerland supports exchange and collaboration amongmountain regions within national borders as well as international cooperation among mountainregions, with the aim of enhancing the political significance of these regions at the national andregional levels.c) Compensation for services rendered to surrounding areas

WSSD 2002 - 6 -Positionen der Schweiz Erarbeitungsstand 22. März 2002Mountain resources with economic value are not only developed largely as the result of externalintervention and investment, but are also exploited primarily by external interests. In most cases,compensation for use of mountain resources is inadequate. The consequences for mountainregions are lack of capital, minimal economic power, widespread poverty, degradation of naturalresources and migration.Hence Switzerland is firmly committed to adequate compensation for services provided bymountain regions to surrounding areas. This includes the strengthening of local rights of resourceuse; fair concessions for use of mountain resources such as drinking water, water used forirrigation and hydropower, mineral resources and timber; and promotion of forms of tourism thatallow for conservation of resources and foster local economic development. Compensation mustalso be provided where it is in the general public interest to refrain from resource use, e.g. in thecase of establishing nature reserves. The overall aim is to ensure that adequate income is returnedto mountain areas as part of a comprehensive arrangement in which financial resources arebalanced within closely linked highland-lowland systems.In order to relieve pressure on mountain resources, Switzerland supports efforts to promotedevelopment that conserves resources in mountains and surrounding areas. At the domestic aswell as the international level, Switzerland advocates the polluter pays principle, according to whichthose who waste or degrade resources must bear the costs.d) Diversification and the benefits of complementaritiesMost of the world’s mountain regions are areas characterised by sensitive ecosystems with littlepotential for human use. The disadvantage of limited potential for use can be partly overcomethrough diversification of resource use in different altitudinal belts and climatic zones as well as indifferent sectors such as agriculture, pastoralism and forestry; through integration of business,industry and tourism; and through seasonal migration.Accordingly, Switzerland is carefully monitoring the impacts of current global trends such asglobalisation, promotion of economies of scale, specialisation and monofunctional use, andconcentration of public services, in light of possible threats to diversification and sustainabledevelopment of mountain regions. Switzerland thus supports diversified and multifunctional formsof agriculture. It thereby acknowledges the central role of agriculture in many of the world’smountains as a local source of food, employment, income and value-added production, as well asthe key role played by agriculture in ensuring decentralised settlement and maintainingbiodiversity.To strengthen the economy in mountain region, Switzerland supports the development ofopportunities to generate local income in the business, industrial and service sectors (e.g. tourism).This involves exploiting complementarities with other economic areas, as well as targeted supportfor mountain-specific products and services – for example, through better-quality advice andimproved access to markets, quality labelling, or the use of new information technologies.Switzerland believes it is important to integrate the business community in mountain developmentmuch more closely than previously. To further this objective, it supports development ofdecentralised infrastructure – especially with respect to land development (including roads, water,electricity, etc.), education, health care, and provision of financing and credits.e) Taking full advantage of local potential for innovationSwitzerland considers local potential for innovation a key prerequisite for sustainable developmentin mountain regions. This potential must be the focus of much more committed and specificsupport in future than until now. As a prerequisite for achieving this aim, Switzerland envisions the

WSSD 2002 - 7 -Positionen der Schweiz Erarbeitungsstand 22. März 2002creation of a decentralised educational system, consisting of primary schools as well as vocationalschools and institutions of higher learning, which would focus far more than previously on thespecific requirements and problems of respective mountain regions without neglectingdevelopment and interconnections at the global level. Close collaboration among business,government and educational institutions at all levels, as well as the creation of appropriate policyframeworks that include features such as credit on favourable terms and tax incentives forbusiness start-ups, will also play a decisive role in exploiting the potential for innovation.f) Cultural change without loss of identityPopulation pressure, resource scarcity and labour migration, and the global dominance of urbanvalues –transmitted by the mass media, educational systems, tourism and seasonal migration tothe most remote corners of the globe – are responsible for rapid social and cultural change inmany of the world’s mountain regions. Major processes of global transformation are also takingplace in mountain regions; this is having a levelling effect on the richness and diversity of culturalheritage.Switzerland intends to counteract threatened loss of cultural heritage, the widespread threat ofcultural dissolution and loss of identity, and loss of local knowledge about resources, appropriateresource management and natural hazards. To this end it is making increased efforts to callattention to the value of local culture through education, the media – including new informationtechnologies such as the Internet – databanks, exhibitions and museums, as well as by fosteringnew forms of culture characterised by local ownership.g) Conservation of mountain ecosystems and early warning mechanismsOwing to their climatic diversity, mountain regions are biodiversity hotspots. In many places thesebiodiversity hotspots are endangered by internal and external pressure on resources and by theimpacts of global climate change.Switzerland is contributing to efforts to maintain the biological potential of mountain regions to thegreatest extent possible, both as a natural heritage and as a resource for possible future use. Itsupports efforts that are designed to achieve this in collaboration with local populations. In sodoing, Switzerland acknowledges that biodiversity is usually maintained rather than threatened byappropriate forms of resource use.Mountain regions are extreme habitats and with highly fragile ecosystems. As such, they registerenvironmental degradation earlier and more clearly than less sensitive systems. Hence mountainregions serve as early warning systems for natural as well as anthropogenic forms ofenvironmental change such as global climate change (glaciers).Switzerland is working to ensure that this early warning function is maintained and used for thebenefit of all humankind. Switzerland supports long-term monitoring programmes and awarenessraisingcampaigns for this purpose, and calls upon the international community to give specialattention to the preservation of fragile mountain ecosystems.h) Institutionalising the issue of sustainable development in mountain regions.Despite its crucial importance to the continued existence of humankind, the question ofdevelopment in mountain regions has not been firmly established as an international issue. TheInternational Year of Mountains 2002 offers a unique opportunity to anchor this issue more firmly atthe international level.

WSSD 2002 - 9 -Positionen der Schweiz Erarbeitungsstand 22. März 2002c) Political support, legislation and administrative instrumentsBasic political decisions and laws can provide frameworks that have a decisive influence infostering sustainable development in mountain regions.Switzerland supports political processes of negotiation as well as legal frameworks (such asnational policies on mountain regions or spatial development policies) and laws (e.g. to promoteinvestment) that would help to strengthen the political and economic power of mountain regions ina national context. Switzerland is also committed to adequate implementation, for instance byassisting in institution building to promote these measures.Switzerland believes that the development and implementation of new forms of politicalparticipation at the community level are especially important. This should include decentralisation,transparency, and more active involvement by people at the local level.d) Institutional capacity, education and trainingInstitutional capacity and human capital are the core elements of development in resource-poorareas such as mountain regions.Switzerland continues to support institutions concerned with international mountain development(specific international and regional organisations, development cooperation projects, and mountainpartnerships in the framework of the National Centre of Competence in Research North-South andthe Swiss National Research Programme on Landscape and Habitats in the Alps). Switzerlandalso calls upon other countries to become more active in supporting such institutions.Together with like-minded partners, Switzerland strives to develop and support institutions in themountains such as universities and vocational schools that engage in research, teaching andabove all implementation of innovations adapted to mountain regions. Support for boarding schoolsthat have an international reputation, such as those that have long existed in Switzerland, is afurther option.e) Information systems and exchange of information on mountain issuesSwitzerland supports exchanges of information on mountain issues at the regional, national andinternational levels concerned with policy, administration and economic issues as well as scienceand technology. It encourages both institutions and individuals in these areas to make theirexperience accessible and supports them in their efforts to do this. Switzerland also supportsinstitutions that are capable of coordinating these exchanges of experience and compiling globallycoordinated databanks on mountain-related topics, such as the glacier inventory which providesdata that give early warning about negative environmental trends at the global level.f) Involving the private sector in mountain developmentImportant stakeholders such as the business community (trade, industry, mining, hydroelectricity,mass tourism and additional services such as banking and credit services) are rarely if everrepresented in existing (international) networks concerned with mountain issues.Switzerland would welcome the opportunity to join like-minded partners at the international andregional levels in encouraging initiatives that are open to these stakeholders, make them aware ofmountain development issues, and mobilise their support. Local and regional business forums andcouncils such as a World Business Council for Sustainable Mountain Development, in which thetourist industry and other financially influential sectors of the business community could take part,