International Year of Glaciers' Preservation

The year 2025 was declared the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation (IYGP2025) by the United Nations General Assembly to "highlight the importance of glaciers and ensure that those relying on them...receive the necessary.. services".^[1] The declaration was made at a request the mountainous country of Tajikistan made during 2022.^[2] Melting ice and glaciers threaten water security in many regions, including Tajikistan.^[3][4]

A photo from the summit of Semenovskogo, a mountain in Southwest Russia. The photo shows a glacier.

Objectives of the declaration include:

• Raising awareness of melting glaciers.
• Advocating changes in policy and sustainable measures to preserve glaciers.^[5][6]

This commemoration is co-facilitated by UNESCO and the World Meteorological Organization.^[7][8][9] The official launch will occur on March 21, which is also now the World Day for Glaciers.^[10][11] The International Conference of Glaciers' Preservation will last from the May 29 -- June 1 in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.^[12]

There are more than 275,000 glaciers in the world, covering about 700,000 km², and storing about 170,000 km³ of ice. This adds up to about 70% of the global freshwater.^[13] Glaciers yield important information about ecosystem health and history because atmospheric gases are preserved within the layers of ice, offering a precise timeline of the history of Earth's atmosphere.^[14] The global sea-level rise of 20 cm from 1900 is partly a result of melting glaciers. ^[15]