Tajikistan Hosts Global Summit to Tackle Urgent Glacier Retreat Crisis
Dushanbe, Tajikistan – From May 29 to June 1, 2025, Tajikistan is hosting a crucial International Conference on Glaciers’ Preservation in its capital, Dushanbe. The event aims to dramatically elevate the urgency of halting glacial retreat on the global climate agenda, as emphasized by Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon in his opening address: “Glaciers preservation is not just a problem of countries with glaciers but rather a global crisis that deserves the immediate attention of the international community.”
The conference is a key highlight of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation and will conclude with the release of the Dushanbe Glaciers Declaration. This landmark document will outline actionable commitments, collaborative initiatives, and strategic recommendations destined for presentation at COP30, the UN Climate Change conference in Brazil.
Alarming Glacial Loss and Dire Consequences
High-level participation, including government leaders, ministers, and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, underscores the gravity of the crisis. Partners like the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Asian Development Bank (ADB), and UNESCO are instrumental in organizing the forum.
Amina Mohammed cited the WMO’s State of the Global Climate 2024 Report, which revealed that 2021-2024 marks the most negative three-year glacier mass balance period on record, with seven of the ten most negative annual balances since 1950 occurring since 2016. She highlighted that since 1975, glaciers have lost over 9,000 billion tons of ice—an amount equivalent to an ice block the size of Germany, 25 meters thick.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo starkly warned, “Our glaciers are dying.” She pointed to Nepal’s declaration of the loss of Langtang’s Yala Glacier and Venezuela becoming the second country, after Slovenia, to lose all its glaciers. Saulo stressed that “The death of a glacier means much more than the loss of ice. It is a mortal blow to our ecosystems, economies, and social fabric.”
The depletion of glaciers poses a direct threat to the water supply of hundreds of millions of people downstream who rely on glacial melt during dry seasons. In the short term, increased melt amplifies natural hazards such as landslides and floods. This danger was dramatically illustrated by a recent glacier collapse in the Swiss Alps on May 28, which triggered a massive avalanche that buried part of the village of Blatten. Early warnings and evacuations prevented fatalities, underscoring the critical need for multi-hazard early warning systems, particularly in developing nations.
Calls for Action and Global Cooperation
Experts at the conference reiterated the urgent need for action. Celeste Saulo called for strengthened glacier monitoring and protection through enhanced models, observations, and data sharing, coupled with greater political will to bridge science with actionable services and forecasts. She emphasized that glacier monitoring, research, and related services in high mountain and polar regions are top priorities for WMO, crucial for mitigating impacts on communities, economies, and ecosystems.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)’s 2023 report, “Water, Ice, Society, and Ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya,” paints a grim picture, predicting the region could lose two-thirds of its glaciers by the century’s end. Tajikistan itself has lost approximately 30% of its glaciers over the last century, including the Vanj yakh (formerly Fedchenko) Glacier, the world’s largest continental glacier, which has retreated over 1 km and shrunk by 44 km² in 70-80 years—an ice volume equivalent to 6.4 million Olympic swimming pools.
The cascading impacts extend globally. Brazil’s Amazon, reliant on Andean glaciers, faces severe drought, while rapid snowmelt, glacier outburst floods, and landslides have affected countries worldwide. Glacier melt has already contributed an estimated 18 millimeters to global sea-level rise, posing a significant threat to coastal areas.
UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay highlighted a 2022 study indicating that glaciers in one-third of World Heritage sites are projected to disappear by 2050, emphasizing the demand for “bold and immediate climate action.” She affirmed UNESCO’s commitment to glacier preservation across its 120 designated sites. Asian Development Bank Vice-President Yingming Yang underscored the threat to over 2 billion people in Asia alone, pledging ADB’s commitment to supporting adaptation investments and facilitating the region’s transition to clean energy without compromising development.
The three-day conference gathers government leaders, heads of international agencies, glacier experts, policymakers, and climate leaders to discuss vital topics. Discussions include glacier preservation, water cooperation, cryosphere monitoring in water allocation, sea-level rise, and transboundary collaboration, alongside sessions on scientific monitoring, socio-economic impacts, and strategies to catalyze action through global frameworks and partnerships.
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