Dear Readers,
2005 marked the 25th year of MRD's publication. We plan to observe this milestone throughout the current year by reflecting on our past, re-examining our current position, and considering our future. First, the reflection: MRD's founding editor, Jack D. Ives, has written a brief retrospective on MRD's first quarter-century, which follows in the form of a special editorial. We wish to thank Jack Ives heartily for this contribution.
Energy, the theme of this issue, is central to practically all aspects of human welfare. This was highlighted by the UNDP report, Energizing the Millennium Development Goals (2005), and by the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. The importance of a sustainable energy supply is accordingly emphasized in the WSSD plan of implementation. At its 14th session in May 2006, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) will review progress in 4 interlinked areas: energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere, and climate change.
Energy supply presents a predicament: on the one hand, sustainable social and economic development requires more energy; on the other hand, anthropogenic disturbance of ecosystems in order to generate more energy jeopardizes ecological sustainability. This dilemma requires efficient handling of energy and innovative approaches.
Today 2.4 billion people have no access to modern energy services, and one-quarter of the world's population lives without electricity. Ninety per cent of rural households rely on traditional energy sources for cooking and heating, with associated indoor air pollution. These are global data. Unfortunately, aggregated data for mountain regions are missing, but it is hard to imagine that mountain people are better off with regard to energy supply.
Efficient energy supply in mountain areas as a precondition for industrial development is a matter of specific barriers as well as potentials. Dispersed settlements in rugged terrain hamper connection to electricity grids. Moreover, mountain areas have a diversity of renewable energy sources: high insolation, wind energy, hydropower, and geothermal energy; this represents potential for off-grid solutions to modern energy supply. The question is not so much one of the availability of sources but of efficient use, accessibility to new technology, and financing.
In the Development section of this issue, the first article illustrates the theme well by presenting a stimulating example of renewable energy as a basis for economic development in small- to medium-scale projects in the Indian Himalaya. Among the other articles are further illustrations of the potential of renewable resources in mountains, a portrayal of the dilemmas of sustainability in terms of highland–lowland interactions relating to large-scale hydroelectric projects in China, and an examination of the concept of innovative approaches to industrial development in Kyrgyzstan, based on the high potential of mountain regions to foster small-scale industries. The Research section includes articles that examine the impacts of development activities on mountain people and their livelihoods and on mountain environments. We hope that MRD's readers find the range of contributions on this theme to be enlightening.
