- Title
- Climate risk management in Mongolia
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- Abstract
- "Mongolia is a landlocked country with a population of circa three million people spread over about 150 million hectares, of which the density of population is less than two inhabitants per km2. The economic diversi cation of Mongolia is very narrow with the mining and animal husbandry sectors contributing by more than percent 70 percent to the GDP. Around half of the total population lives in rural and the other 50 percent in urban areas. Poverty levels in Mongolia are about 46 percent for the rural and 27 percent for the urban areas.
Mongolia has a large reserve of mineral resources with copper, gold, coal and uranium. Since 2000 the global commodity boom prompted the Mongolian GDP to grow by eight percent. However the contribution made by the extractive sector to alleviate rural poverty has actually has widened the gap between rich and poor.
The livestock sector, in contrast, supporting roughly 40 percent of the population, constitutes 30 percent of GDP and 15 percent of export earnings. This taken into account, especially animal husbandry is at constant risk of recurring extreme weather events that are due to a highly variable climate. During the collective system of the Soviet Era, livestock risk was managed by collectives. Collectives, as part of their risk management strategy, maintained the livestock population at a threshold level of 25 million. However, with the emergence of a market economy in the 1990s, the collectives collapsed and, as a consequence, ownership of livestock as well as the related economic risk have been transferred to individual herders. As part of their risk management strategy, herders tend to maintain large numbers of livestock as safety net and as an insurance against climate risks. These development trends have resulted in the doubling of livestock to estimated 40-50 million.
As part of the CRM TASP project, risk patterns related to livestock population were assessed and policy options to gradually reduce livestock numbers to an optimal level of 25 – 30 million explored. The transfer of a signi cant number of livestock herders to agro- processing, crop-based agriculture and the booming mining sector was discussed. However, although absorbing large numbers of herders, modifying the economy structurally that way, would rst of all require major policy changes, adapted institutional arrangements and capacity building e orts. Considering the gradual impact of climate change, it is suggested to undertake entry- level adaptation options and then move to encompass the strategic directions mentioned above.
CRM TASP has established a herder-need-based climate risk information system to anticipate and manage climate risk at di erent timescales. This pilot experiment has proved to be popular and acceptable among herders and the Mongolian Government alike, thus providing a way forward for expansion and replication."
- Publication Date
- May 1, 2013, 5 p.m.
- Category
- Climatology Meteorology Atmosphere
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processes and phenomena of the atmosphere. Examples: cloud cover, weather, climate, atmospheric conditions, climate change, precipitation
- Regions
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Mongolia
- Responsible
- andy
- More info
- -
- Language
- English
- Supplemental Information
- coastal_flood, strong_wind, drought, urban_flood, extreme_heat, wildfire, landslide
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