Climate action and resilience strategies for achieving SDG 13 in the North Western Himalayas

Due to the natural phenomenon of climate change and its increasing rate because of human-induced pressure, the North-western Himalayan Mountain region, which is also an ecologically and tectonically active landscape, is becoming increasingly vulnerable. This review tries to evaluate the climatic vulnerability, disaster risks, and progress to achieve sustainable development goals (SDG 13) by the integration of geospatial technology based on long-term climate data, disaster and hazard mapping, reviewing existing policies and institutional assessment and community-based adaptation practices. The detailed review reveals multiple effects such as accelerated glacial retreat, altered precipitation and temperature anomalies, frequency of extreme natural disasters such as landslides, flash-floods, glacial lake outburst floods, resulting direct threat to the existing infrastructure, including livelihood. The assessment of SDG 13 implementation shows uneven progress towards the targets, which include awareness, adaptation of renewable energy sources, and developing early warning systems, but there are significant gaps within financial mechanisms, institutional capacity and community resilience. The results show that the current measures remain fragmented and often constrained by the limitation of resources, resulting in weak execution. The review emphasises on urgent need for region-specific planning which combines the indigenous knowledge with scientific methodologies, strengthening the institutional framework by fostering active community participation to enhance resilience within the study area by fostering global climate action goals.