The UIAA 2025 Climate Change Summit (CCS), held in Peja, Kosovo, in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly (GA), represents the latest step in a long-running effort by the federation climate ambition Enter climate action. Beginning in Banff in 2022, this is the fourth edition of CCS, once again integrated into the GA program.
As a logical step following earlier summits, this year’s program shifts its primary focus from raising awareness to supporting and promoting practical, member-driven commitments. From a general but abstract climate action framework to real, concrete actions, each action is tailored to the capabilities and context of each member association.
As in 2024, the slogan for the 2025 Summit is “UIAA Climate Action: Commitment, Action, Together, Now!” an endorsement of the central message that the UIAA and its member federations must take collective steps, no matter how small, but consistent and coordinated. this Climate change and sustainable development action listPresented in poster format, discussed and enriched by summit participants, it now outlines real-world options for member federations at different stages of their climate journey, whether beginner, mid-way or advanced. It focuses on the four pillars of UIAA: Commitment, Mitigation, Adaptation, and Advocacy/Education.
Overview of the 2025 Climate Change Summit
The summit began with an introduction to three flagship federation projects (from France, South Africa and Argentina) that embody the above pillars, each demonstrating how the federation translates the climate principles advocated by UIAA into applied practice. Paul Kwakkenbos, Chairman of the Mountain Protection Committee, reviewed the UIAA’s commitment to the Sport for Climate Action 2050 goals, progress related to the UIAA Internal Climate Action Plan, and presented member federations’ Statements of Commitment, a mechanism through which the UIAA hopes to translate collective agreements into measurable progress using a more structured framework and clearer expectations.
This year, for the first time, a workflow has been created to collect concrete commitments from federations for the period December 2025 to September 2026. The workstream includes distributing a clear list of possible climate actions, requiring federations to select at least three by the end of March 2026 and share the results at the 2026 General Assembly.
This process shows significant progress compared to previous summits: CCS is no longer just a discussion forum, but a structured tool to support, gather and celebrate meaningful climate action.
Support the federation to take concrete actions
A core goal of CCS is to help federations feel encouraged, rather than pressured, into action. Throughout the design of the summit and its aftermath, the UIAA took a progressive approach: federations were invited to select only content that fit their context, but they were also asked to select some content and repeat their efforts over time. These actions are presented as options rather than mandatory requirements and should reflect the resources, constraints and ambitions of each federation.
Breakout sessions exemplified this approach. Each participant is invited to tag Climate change and sustainable development action list Posters indicate that their coalition is in the stages of “Commitment, Mitigation, Adaptation, and Advocacy/Education” on certain topics. Subsequently, designated breakout session experts discussed the feasibility, clarity, and explanation of some of these topics. The purpose of this process is to create a dialogue and allow UIAA to refine the action list based on feedback.
Results: What the federation is already doing
Workshop results compiled after the meeting showed that many member organizations have already carried out meaningful climate-related activities. The top five “already doing” actions are:
- Promote carpooling, public transportation or slow travel (10%)
- Promote “leave no trace” and clean up trails (9%)
- Update cabins with climate-friendly solutions (7%)
- Set simple climate goals and share them with members (5%)
- Collect and share members’ good practices (5%)
Also important: ecosystem restoration and participation in National Cleanup Day (5% each).
These results reflect the diversity of health but also indicate that much progress still needs to be made. Some federations prioritize mobility mitigation, others focus on “on-the-ground” environmental protection, while others choose to focus first on communication and member engagement. Together, they emphasized that the global mountaineering community is already mobilizing people for climate awareness in practical ways.
Results: What the federation is ready to commit to
The top five “commit to do” actions illustrate a similar pattern of steady ambition:
- Planning climate-neutral or climate-positive federation events (10%)
- Publish and report on climate action roadmap (7%)
- Set simple climate goals and share them with members (6%)
- Agree on 2-3 practical actions for the next year (6%)
- Create youth programs linking mountaineering skills to climate education (5%)
These results demonstrate the federation’s willingness to take structured and transparent steps and its commitment to engaging younger generations as partners and leaders.
Participants' thoughts
A number of other ideas were raised by attendees, particularly around the Adapt pillar, including:
- Climate-related accident statistics and case studies,
- Rockfall and climate risk awareness measures,
- Digital tools for seasonal and hazard-based path color coding,
- Work with state agencies and NGOs on waste collection, and
- Volunteers work to repair the damaged passage.
- A federation has proposed that the UIAA officially join World Cleanup Day.
UIAA Carbon Footprint Report and Public Commitments
UIAA recently released 2024 Carbon Footprint Reportthe seventh in total and released for the first time under the new biennial reporting cycle. This update, placed between full calculations in 2023 and 2025 (future), reflects a strategic shift toward a lighter approach and more targeted monitoring of the Alliance's most impactful activities.
UIAA’s carbon footprint reporting and its publicly announced commitments to reduce emissions form the backbone of the federation’s climate efforts. Although these reports are not central to CCS, they are referenced in introductory speeches and explanations of commitment statements.
The subject of the report sparked an interesting debate. Some member federations are less than enthusiastic about carbon accounting; others feel that CO2 indicators are politically sensitive or not directly relevant to their priorities. The action list and summit structure explicitly acknowledge this diversity. They provide different entry points, some with a carbon focus, others on waste, adaptation, education or biodiversity, so that all federations can make a meaningful contribution without feeling pressured into taking action they find uncomfortable or impractical.
in conclusion
The 2025 Climate Change Summit demonstrates that the World Climbing and Mountaineering Federation is ready to move from general recognition of climate responsibility to concrete, measurable action. Rather than driving federations with hard demands, the Summit creates a space where federations can discover their real-world commitments, exchange experiences and contribute to a common action list that truly reflects global ambitions and local contexts.
The summit also launched a clear, year-long work process to implement these commitments to the 2026 Nepal Conference in Kathmandu, deepening accountability while retaining autonomy. The goal of the summit is to “UIAA Climate Action: Commitment, Action, Together, Now!”, Satisfied by success.
