From September 25 to 27, 2025, the Fourth International Conference on Mountain Futures was grandly held in Kunming, China, and hosted by the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Under the theme “Inclusive Bioeconomy: Mountain-Based Approaches for Nature Positive and Climate Resilience”, the conference brought nearly 200 scientists, policymakers, private sector, development partners, and United Nations agencies from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to share knowledge, innovations and community-driven solutions, exploring ways to enable mountain economies to both nurture the ecosystem and improve people's livelihoods in mountain regions from the Himalayas to the Andes, from the African highlands to the Mainland Southeast Asia and southwestern China.

UNEP-IEMP was among the main conference co-organizers. In this regard, Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Deputy Executive Director of UNEP (through video address), delivered a welcome speech – stressing the importance of mountain ecosystems in achieving the SDGs. Prof. Linxiu Zhang (UNEP-IEMP Director) and other UNEP-IEMP members also contributed to several presentations and keynote speeches around the topics of bioeconomy, indigenous wisdom, livelihoods, technology transfer and sustainability. 

Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (UNEP DED) delivering welcome speech (Photo Credit: KIB,CAS )

Prof. Linxiu Zhang (UNEP-IEMP Director) delivering keynote presentation (Photo Credit: KIB,CAS )

From consensus to collaborative creation, the conference launched the "Global Montane Bioeconomy Framework" and initiated transnational actions in five key bioeconomic hotspot regions.