UfM warns of rapidly disappearing Euro-Mediterranean glaciers ahead of World Water Day
- The Euro-Mediterranean region’s few remaining glaciers have retreated significantly in recent years, be it in the Pyrenees, Alps, Apennines, or Balkan peninsula. Their existence is precarious as many could disappear completely in the coming decades.
- Melting glaciers on our warming planet are linked to flooding, landslides, sea level rise and droughts. Glaciers are key to healthy ecosystems, but uncertain water flows from rapidly melting ice can negatively impact people and the environment.
- In a region plagued with water scarcity and quality issues and where the population classified as water poor is expected to increase to more than 250 million by 2040, the UfM continues to advocate for interconnected solutions that focus on the water, energy, food and ecosystems nexus.
19 March 2025, Barcelona. On the occasion of World Water Day, celebrated each 22 March, the Union for the Mediterranean sounds the alarm about the region’s rapidly melting glaciers, many of which are on course to cease to exist completely within the coming decades. Glaciers in the Alps and the Pyrenees, the worst affected in Europe, have shrunk 40% in the past quarter century alone. As a member of the UN Mountain Partnership, the UfM stresses that in the Mediterranean region and elsewhere, the swift disappearance of glaciers is linked to flooding, droughts, landslides and sea level rise.
This is particularly concerning as in the Mediterranean, a climate change hotspot warming 20% faster than the global average, the Paris Agreement’s agreed upon 1.5ºC temperature rise is already being exceeded. As the UfM-supported MedECC network of Euro-Mediterranean climate scientists highlights, seemingly small amounts of sea level rise can expose increasingly large numbers of people to flooding and displacement over time. Currently averaging an annual increase of 2.8mm, twice as high as in the 20th century, sea levels are set to rise by up to a metre by 2100, permanently displacing up to 20 million people. And with a third of the population living in close vicinity to the sea, more and more people are becoming exposed to the coastal hazards resulting from climate change and environmental degradation.
Although, as MedECC warns, Mediterranean countries’ climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts are still insufficient for liveable futures, the UfM is a firm believer in the need to expand funding and policies to counter this crisis. At the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice this June, the UfM will call for the protection of our sea with a side event devoted exclusively to the Mediterranean. Notably, as a founding member of the Blue Mediterranean Partnership, the UfM will unveil the initiative’s first projects located in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan. A multi-donor fund for sustainable blue economy investments, it aims to mobilise €1 bn to coordinate their financing.
“As we mark World Water Day, it is essential to recognise that climate change and environmental degradation are regional challenges that ultimately threaten water security, coastal resilience and our citizens’ livelihoods,” said UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel. “We all must reduce emissions and encourage sustainability. The UfM is committed to promoting collaborative climate solutions that will protect our shared sea.”
