World Day for Glaciers & World Water Day 2025 March 22

A fisher tries to prevent his net from being dragged down by an iceberg in the Greenland. Climate Visuals Countdown-Turpin Samuel

The theme of World Water Day 2025 is ‘Glacier Preservation’.

Glaciers are critical to life – their meltwater is essential for drinking water, agriculture, industry, clean energy production and healthy ecosystems.

Rapidly melting glaciers are causing uncertainty to water flows, with profound impacts on people and the planet.

Global reductions in carbon emissions and local strategies to adapt to shrinking glaciers are essential.

This World Water Day, we must work together to put glacier preservation at the core of our plans to tackle climate change and the global water crisis. 

Key messages for World Water Day 2025

• Glaciers are melting faster than ever. As the planet gets hotter due to climate change, our frozen world is shrinking, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme.

• Glacial retreat threatens devastation. For billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise, and damaging ecosystems.

• Glacier preservation is a survival strategy. We must work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage meltwater more sustainably for people and the planet. 

Did you know?

• In 2023, glaciers lost more than 600 gigatons of water, the largest mass loss registered in 50 years. (WMO)

• About 70% of Earth’s freshwater exists as snow or ice. (WMO)

• Nearly 2 billion people rely on water from glaciers, snowmelt and mountain run-off for drinking, agriculture, and energy production. (UN-Water/UNESCO)

• Increased glacier melting contributes significantly to global sea-level rise, with today’s sea level about 20 cm higher than in 1900. (IPCC)

• Limiting global warming to 1.5°C could save glaciers in two-thirds of World Heritage sites. (UNESCO/IUCN)

UN World Water Development Report 2025 launched

Mountains and glaciers - Water towers

For billions of people, mountain meltwater is essential for drinking water and sanitation, food and energy security, and the integrity of the environment.

But today, as the world warms, glaciers are melting faster than ever, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme. And because of glacial retreat, floods, droughts, landslides and sea-level rise are intensifying, with devastating consequences for people and nature.

The United Nations World Water Development Report 2025: Mountains and glaciers - Water towers offers solutions to help us simultaneously mitigate and adapt to rapid changes in our frozen water resources. This report provides a clear overview of the current state of play and recommends what needs to change. The urgent need to drastically reduce carbon emissions is emphatically repeated.

By detailing the connections between mountain fresh water, essential services and the natural world, this publication highlights the critical importance of conserving the cryosphere to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.