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Launching the first ever World Day for Glaciers
The international community marked the inaugural World Day for Glaciers, jointly observed with World Water Day 2025, during a high-level event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Convened within the framework of the International Year of Glaciers鈥 Preservation 2025, the event was co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Barbados, Canada, Peru, Senegal, Singapore, Switzerland, Tajikistan, and the United Arab Emirates, and supported by key UN system partners including UNESCO, WMO, UNDP, UNDESA, UNDRR, UN-Water, IAEA, IUCN, and UNU-INWEH.
In her address at the Opening session, H.E. Ambassador Simona-Mirela Miculescu, President of the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference, issued a strong call to the global community to act swiftly to preserve the planet鈥檚 glaciers and ensure long-term water security.
This year and this day are historic. Today, for the first time, the world celebrates an International Glacier Day. The melting of glaciers is no longer a distant scenario 鈥 it is happening now, and it is happening fast. As the severity of the crisis intensifies, so too does our collective responsibility to act.
The occasion also marked the official launch of the United Nations World Water Development Report 2025, titled 鈥淢ountains and Glaciers: The Water Towers of the World.鈥 The report, prepared by UNESCO鈥檚 World Water Assessment Programme on behalf of UN-Water, reveals that glaciers and mountain regions provide freshwater to nearly half the world鈥檚 population. With climate extremes accelerating, their retreat threatens water access, food and energy systems, and ecological stability worldwide.
Amb. Miculescu emphasized that preserving glaciers is both an environmental and ethical imperative. She called for 鈥渂old policy actions,鈥 noting that transboundary water agreements, though complex, 鈥減resent opportunities for dialogue, collaboration, and innovative solutions that promote equitable and sustainable resource management.鈥
The event concluded with the announcement of key priorities for sustainable glacier preservation and adaptation, including glacier monitoring networks, early warning systems, and inclusive climate-resilience strategies. The outcomes aligned with the launch of the International Decade of Cryospheric Sciences (2025鈥2034), which will guide international collaboration on science-based responses to the cryosphere crisis.
During her presence at UN Headquarters, President Miculescu also held bilateral meetings with H.E. Amb. Philemon Yang, President of the United Nations General Assembly, and with H.E. Amb. Bob Rae, President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). These strategic exchanges reaffirmed the engagement by UNESCO鈥檚 Member States in fostering multilateral action on water, science, and sustainability, and reinforced alignment across UN bodies in addressing the global environmental challenge.
and the President鈥檚 Speech
