The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) is a regional intergovernmental organisation leading the global effort to protect the Hindu Kush Himalaya from global warming.
Based in Kathmandu, Nepal, ICIMOD works for the eight countries that make up the Hindu Kush Himalaya – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – primarily to raise awareness of the effects of global warming in the region, and drive climate action.
Despite holding the largest volume of ice outside the North and South poles, the effects of global warming in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are too often overlooked. ICIMOD’s ‘Save Our Snow’ campaign and accompanying work have made this issue too powerful to ignore.
Spanning 3,500 kilometres across Asia, the Hindu Kush Himalaya is one of the most important mountain ranges on the planet. The source of 10 major river systems, the Hindu Kush Himalaya provides water services to two billion people – a quarter of the world’s population.
However, the Hindu Kush Himalaya is undergoing unprecedented and largely irreversible change driven by global warming. With two-thirds of glaciers predicted to disappear by the end of the century, limiting global temperature rises is no more essential than for Earth’s “Third Pole” and water tower for Asia.
On the 29th of May 2023, the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mount Everest, ICIMOD launched the Save Our Snow campaign which mobilised mountain champions to raise awareness of the effects of global warming on the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Within 24 hours, the Save Our Snow campaign was backed by more than 2000 people, including global leaders and high-profile athletes.
Communities at the top of the world are crying out to world leaders for help. Humanity has a mountain to climb to reach the aspirations of the Paris Agreement. The only hope is for concerted global action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically to save the world’s snow and ice before it is too late.
Rt Hon Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Leveraging a media moment, Blakeney secured global media coverage of the Save Our Snow campaign, with interviews of ICIMOD spokespeople featuring BBC News Channels, Sky News’ The Climate Show, and placing an opinion piece in the Times. We have since established a long-term digital communications strategy for ICIMOD that builds on the success of the campaign.
Alongside the Save Our Snow Campaign, Blakeney supported with the publication of ICIMOD’s report on the impacts of climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya. We developed all media collateral, and worked with global media to secure mass coverage of the report.
The report was covered by over 5000 media outlets, including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, and Reuters. The New York Times, Bloomberg, and others did their own reporting on the report featuring interviews with ICIMOD spokespeople. On TV and radio, the report was mentioned across BBC news channels including BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service’s news bulletin, and Newshour. Importantly, the report had a large geographical reach and was covered in all ICIMOD’s donor countries and target donor countries.
