Beyond the general acceptance that mountains are among the areas most sensitive to the negative effects of global warming, little is known about the local impacts and socioeconomic relevance of recent climatic changes in the high mountains of northern Pakistan. The research project focuses on the mountain oasis of Nager and builds on social science approaches at the nexus of climate change and human security, considering change in climatic conditions as one of several concurring processes of local change. By identifying and analysing the causal relationships between complex and multiscalar socio-economic, political-historical and climatic changes, and actual risks on the household level, we intend to determine the significance of these processes for mountain people from a local and holistic perspective.