Meet IPROMO alumna Carmen Arias

31/10/2023

Carmen, please tell us about your background.

I am a trained diplomat. I worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru for more than 20 years. I believe strongly in the power of multilateralism. I was posted to the Peruvian Mission to the United Nations (UN) in 2008–2013 and was involved in representing Peru during negotiations at the UN Climate Change Conferences during that period, as well as in 2018–2021. I was part of Peru’s COP20 Presidency team, and one of the outcomes was the adoption of the Gender Action programme. Additionally, the Peruvian Presidency team drew special attention to mountains and water.

Why mountains matter to you?

Mountains are a key feature in Peru’s landscape. They cover 42 percent of the country’s terrestrial surface and are home to 32 percent of the population. Peru also hosts 68 percent of all tropical glaciers worldwide, which increases makes my country particularly vulnerable to climate change.

I also have a personal connection to mountains. Part of my family is from Mancos, which is located at the foot of Mount Huascarán. I grew up listening to my mother talk about how much she missed the sound of the Santa River and the blue sky of her hometown after moving to Lima.

For these reasons, I decided to do my global Master of Arts capstone project at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University on international mountain governance. My project looked at the impacts of climate change on mountains and their biodiversity, as well as at the importance of including mountains in actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

What is a key issue of concern for you in regard to mountains?

A growing area of concern where I believe that mountains should be taken into greater consideration is in the negotiations and processes for creating a new treaty against plastic pollution. Environmental issues are interconnected and cannot be understood in isolation. Plastic pollution is a growing concern in the world, and it is also affecting mountains and the people who rely on them.

Mountains are popular tourist destinations, and the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions has raised concerns that in certain mountain regions, the plastic waste generated from tourism has increased 38-fold within just three years. The FAO and UNWTO report Mountain tourism – Towards a more sustainable path warns that Himalaya summits and Kilimanjaro have become plastic waste hotspots. Additionally, the report states that Machu Picchu has experienced a 20-fold increase of tourists in almost 30 years, from nearly 80 000 in 1991 to 1.5 million in 2018. This has a substantial impact on sustainability in terms of waste management.

Some measures have been taken to mitigate that impact. For example, in 2018, Peru established a regulation to ban plastic items in Machu Picchu and other archaeological sites; however, important challenges remain. There is an urgent need to implement effective measures to deal with plastic waste pollution in mountains and remote areas.

Would you say that more data and awareness is needed to help resolve the problem of plastic waste in mountains?

Absolutely. For instance, a survey conducted by GRID-Arendal in 2021 provided important data about the presence of plastic in mountain areas and gave some indications on how this situation could be properly managed. About 94 percent of the survey respondents agreed on the fact that mountain waste was an issue needing immediate attention in the mountains; 69 percent reported that they had seen waste most, if not every time they had gone to the mountains; and only 0.2 percent claimed that they had never seen any waste at all in mountain areas. The most common types of waste seen in mountains according to the survey were hard plastics (such as bottles) and soft plastics (such as packaging). Many of the respondents also agreed that there is a need to implement principles such as ‘leave no trace’ and ‘pack in, pack out’ and to increase awareness and education.

What about microplastics, have they also reached the mountains?

Unfortunately yes. Microplastics are ubiquitous and have been found in snow and ice in the Alps, Andes, Antarctic regions and the Tibetan Plateau. Research conducted on the Antisana Glacier in Ecuador suggests that microplastics accumulated in the glacier may have been transported from the east, across Amazonia, by the prevalent eastward air flow. Other research that took place in two protected areas of Peru found microplastics present in condors’ diets. This is a concerning indicator about habitat quality and ecosystem health. More research is still needed to enhance the knowledge about the impact of microplastics on cryosphere regions and about microplastics' consequences in terms of climate risk.

How could the plastic treaty consider mountain ecosystems? 

The negotiations are underway, and the zero plastics draft was published on 4 September 2023. It is important that the new international framework includes the impact of plastic pollution on mountains and remote areas as well as its consequences on the health of the populations that inhabit those areas. This could help to enhance international cooperation and create more awareness on the impact of plastic pollution on high-altitude areas.

Tell us about your experience of participating in IPROMO. How has it influenced your work?

It was simply amazing. It was the first in-person course after the COVID-19 pandemic, and I think the field visits and the lectures helped us better understand the concept of One Health. We also learned about being part of nature and our responsibility in protecting fragile ecosystems for future generations.

Related links

IPROMO is organized by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, the University of Turin, the University of Tuscia and the Italian National Research Council - Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, with the high patronage of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It aims to improve participants’ understanding of the challenges faced by mountain people and ecosystems and catalyses action towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in mountains.