The UIAA held its first Climate Change Summit during its General Assembly in Banff, Canada at the end of October. The aim of the Summit was to provide an opportunity to discuss topics related to sustainability and climate change, the role of the recently created UIAA...
In September 2022, the UIAA signed a pledge as part of its engagement in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sports for Climate Action (S4CA) Framework, of which it has been a signatory since 2019. The pledge, known as the Sports for...
The year 2022 was declared the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development (IYM2022) by the UN General Assembly. This was twenty years on from the first UN declared International Year of the Mountains, in 2002. On that occasion the UIAA released its seminal paper, Environmental...
Promoting and encouraging solidarity between its member associations has always been a core principle of the UIAA. A recent example has been the support that the Polish Mountaineering Association (PZA) has offered Ukrainian climbers ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this year, the PZA...
One of the significant segments of the recent UIAA General Assembly (see review here) was the platform provided to the UIAA Commissions, responsible for delivering the federation’s core projects and in alignment with its Strategic Plan. Below is a summary of the Commission presentations from...
The UIAA is delighted to announce that the Establishment of Self-Managed Climbing Parks project by Asociación 7a Escalada, Peru, has been named as the ninth winner of the UIAA Mountain Protection Award (MPA). In doing so it becomes the first project from South America to...
As the ever growing reality of climate change continues to impact the world’s mountains, one man’s extraordinary achievement has helped highlight the issue and inspired others to take action. After just 78 days, enduring deteriorating conditions, aching muscles and sleepless nights, Roeland van Oss, a UIAGM/IFMGA...
The UIAA is delighted to announce that the Clean Hikers project by Leave Good Trace, Korea, has been named 2022 UIAA Mountain Protection Award (MPA) Runner-Up. The Runner-Up is one of three prizes offered as part of the annual award. Save Rinjani, Indonesia, was announced as...
The UIAA, and a number of its partner organisations, have produced a policy brief on keeping mountains plastic waste free. This brief was produced by the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, GRID-Arendal, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Mountain Research Initiative, and the UIAA, in...
The following article is a slight adaption from a speech given by the mayor of Chamonix, Éric Fournier, at August's Chamonix Guides Festival. The below is a translation from the original version in French, which is planned to be published in Le Monde. ‘Mountains must remain...