Water is the lifeblood of our planet. It sustains ecosystems, supports food production, and is vital for both human and natural systems. For World Water Day 2025, we are shining a spotlight on one of the most critical yet often overlooked ecosystems: glaciers.
Glaciers and ice sheets store approximately 70% of the world’s freshwater, making them vital to global water consumption and security. As the “water towers” of the world, glaciers and mountains play a unique and indispensable role in the global water cycle. They act as natural reservoirs, storing water that regulates river flows and recharges aquifers.
Mountains and glaciers: cornerstones of water and food security
Mountains and glaciers are crucial for both the environment and food security. Water sourced from these regions irrigates lowland farms and sustains the livelihoods of mountain communities. Agriculture plays a critical role in protecting these fragile ecosystems.
Forests, which cover about 40 percent of mountain areas worldwide, protect against natural hazards by stabilizing steep slopes, regulating water flows and reducing surface water runoff and soil erosion. Terrace farming, which is tailored to mountainous terrain, improves water management, reduces soil erosion and preserves cultural heritage.
Indigenous communities in mountain regions also contribute invaluable knowledge about sustainable resource management. Their expertise in farming, livestock care, land and water management and biodiversity conservation is essential to support both food security and environmental sustainability.
The threat of climate change to glaciers and the world’s water resources
Despite their importance, glaciers are facing unprecedented challenges due to climate change. Warming temperatures are causing glaciers to shrink and snow cover to melt at an alarming rate. In the short term, this leads to increased runoff in spring, causing floods that damage agricultural fields. In the long run, the loss of glaciers will lead to a significant reduction in available water, threatening irrigation systems and food production.
As a result, climate change exacerbates the already fierce competition for limited water resources, especially in the critical months when agriculture is most dependent on it.
The need for action: preserving glaciers for global water and food security
Preserving glaciers and restoring mountain ecosystems is essential for the stability of the world’s water cycle and for securing global food supplies. The effects of climate change in mountain regions do not stay confined to those areas but affect everyone.
As the largest sectoral water user, agriculture holds the responsibility of ensuring both food and water security while preserving key natural resources such as glaciers.
Sustainable agricultural practices and agrifood systems offer key solutions to the climate crisis and are critical in preserving glaciers.
On this World Water Day, we must unite to prioritize glacier conservation as a central strategy in the fight against climate change and the global water crisis.
Address by Lifeng Li, Director, FAO Land and Water division
Launch of the UN World Water Development Report 2025
Related links
- World Water Day UN website
- Water Action Agenda Commitment “Advancing sustainable mountain development and protecting the “water towers” of the world”
- International Mountain Day" “Glaciers matter for water, food and livelihoods in mountains and beyond”
- International Year of Glacier Preservation
- IPROMO summer course 2025 IPROMO 2025 "Glaciers: understanding, preserving and adapting to climate change"
- Ensuring Access to Water in the Face of Glacier Retreat: #Atoms4Climate Event at COP27
- Glaciers on borrowed time: Capturing data from vanishing ice in Bolivia
- FAO and IAEA Support Study of Bolivian Wetland Water Reserves as Glaciers Melt
- Climate Change's Effects on Mountain Regions: Insights from FAO/IAEA Scientific Expeditions to the Andes