World Water Day 2025 - Glacier Preservation

Established on 22 March 1993, World Water Day is an annual United Nations Observance focusing on the importance of freshwater. The aim of this annual event is to celebrate water and raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water, to tackle the global water crisis.

A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.  

Event Overview

On 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. The panel discussion entitled “Glacier Preservation” aims to raise awareness about the issue and provide a platform for discussing innovative solutions to tackle the challenge.

Glaciers are melting faster than ever. As the planet gets hotter, our frozen world is shrinking, making the water cycle more unpredictable. For billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise. Countless communities and ecosystems are at risk of devastation.

As we work together to mitigate and adapt to climate change, glacier preservation is a top priority. We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow down glacial retreat. And, we must manage meltwater more sustainably. Saving our glaciers is a survival strategy for people and the planet: join us on Friday 21 March 2025, 1-3pm to learn more.

This webinar will be delivered by:

Panel:

• Thomas Gribbin, Doctoral Researcher, BGS
  
• Professor Rachel Carr, Professor in Glaciology, Newcastle University
• Dr Nick Barrand, Associate Professor of Glaciology, University of Birmingham
• Dr Sihan Li, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science, University of Sheffield

• Dr Caroline Clason, Associate Professor of Physical Geography,·Durham University

Chairs:

• Professor David Hannah, Director of the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability and Climate Action, University of Birmingham
• Professor Stefan Krause, University of Birmingham
• Professor Iseult Lynch, University of Birmingham

The World Water Day and Week activities are held by the Birmingham Water Research Centre under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair in Water Sciences and UNESCO UNITWIN network on Ecohydrological Interfaces at Birmingham, the Birmingham Institute for Sustainability & Climate Action.

This event is free to attend and is open to all, both within and outside the University. If you wish to attend, please register here.

Further events

In the lead up to this panel discussion, we have also organised a weeklong timetable of events, which you can learn more about and register for here.

Speakers for the week include:

• Monday 17 March 2025 (12-1pm): Prof. Alexander Milner, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, 'Climate Change and Glacier-fed rivers'
• 12-1pm, Tuesday 18 March 2025 (12-1pm): Dr Lauren Somers, Dalhousie University, 'High-drogeology: Mountain Groundwater Under Climate Change'
• 12-1pm, Wednesday 19 March 2025 (12-1pm): Prof. Wouter Buytaert, Imperial College London, 'Co-producing local knowledge for global water security'
  
• Thursday 20 March 2025 (12-1pm): Dr Jon Mackay, BGS, 'Glacier retreat and water resource impact modelling: perspectives from a hydrologist'