Saving the world鈥檚 shrinking glaciers is a 鈥榮urvival strategy鈥� for the planet, the UN said on Tuesday, a day after president Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.
United Nations agencies launched an appeal to scale up efforts to rescue the world鈥檚 2,75,000 glaciers, which are rapidly melting away as the planet warms.
The UN鈥檚 educational, scientific and cultural agency UNESCO, and its World Meteorological Organisation weather, climate and water agency, pointed to the essential role these giant ice masses play, providing fresh water to more than two billion people globally.
鈥楾he preservation of glaciers is essential for our ecosystems, our economies and our planetary health,鈥� the WMO鈥檚 deputy chief Ko Barrett said as the agencies launched the International Year of Glaciers鈥� Preservation.
鈥楿rgent and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are vital,鈥� she told the gathering in Geneva.
鈥楤ut unfortunately we are heading in the wrong direction as levels of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases continue to rise.鈥�
The world鈥檚 glaciers currently cover approximately 7,00,000 square kilometres.
Glaciers and ice sheets play a crucial role in regulating the global climate and store approximately 70 per cent of the world鈥檚 fresh water, which is essential for billions of people, the agencies said.
鈥楶reserving our glaciers is therefore not just an environmental issue,鈥� Barrett said.
鈥業t is a survival strategy for both people and the planet.鈥�
But from the Alps to the Himalayas, these resources are melting away at an increasing pace under the effect of man-made climate change, sparked essentially by greenhouse gas emissions.
Tuesday鈥檚 launch came after Trump announced he was withdrawing the United States 鈥� the world鈥檚 second-largest emitter after China 鈥� from the Paris Agreement.
Critics warn that the move undermines global cooperation on reducing fossil fuel use and could embolden major polluters like China and India to weaken their commitments.
Global average temperatures already hit record highs in 2024, while over the past two years they temporarily surpassed a critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold for the first time.
In 2023, glaciers suffered their largest volume loss in five decades, according to WMO.
鈥楥ounterfactual industries and regimes around the world would deny鈥� climate change, John Pomeroy, a professor at Canada鈥檚 Saskatchewan University, told Tuesday鈥檚 event.
But they 鈥榗annot deny their culpability in the destruction of glaciers that is occurring before our eyes鈥�, he said.
鈥楪laciers don鈥檛 care if we believe in science. They just melt in the heat.鈥�
Pomeroy warned that 鈥榬estoring glaciers will take decades鈥�.
To do so would require 鈥榰rgent policy changes鈥� and 鈥榚xpanding measurements鈥� to swiftly detect changes and provide early warnings of droughts and floods.
Stefan Uhlenbrook, head of the WMO鈥檚 hydrology, water and cryosphere unit, described the situation as 鈥榬eally dramatic鈥�.
Fifty UNESCO World Heritage sites are home to glaciers.
But the agency has warned that the ice masses were expected to disappear from a third of these sites by 2050, regardless of efforts to limit temperature rise.
UNESCO estimates that the remainder can still be saved, but only if long-term average global temperatures do not rise by more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.