Glaciers, which store 70% of Earth’s freshwater and support billions of people, are rapidly disappearing due to climate change. Even under the most ambitious climate targets, up to half of the world’s glaciers will vanish by the end of the century, leading to rising sea levels, food and water insecurity, and destabilized mountain regions. Glaciers also host unique microbial biodiversity, which is at risk of extinction. While reducing carbon emissions is crucial to slowing ice loss, additional measures are needed to safeguard glaciers.
In response, an international team of glacier scientists has launched the Glacier Stewardship Program, aligning with the UN’s International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (2025) and the UN Decade of Action for Cryospheric Research (2025–2034). This alliance of scientists will – in close cooperation with communities and stakeholders – address three priorities to help address the challenges and consequences of glacier loss: (1) developing and testing innovative local-scale interventions to slow ice loss on mountain glaciers in collaboration with communities, (2) enhancing early-warning systems to mitigate glacier-related hazards, and (3) creating a biobank to preserve glacier microbial biodiversity for future scientific research and climate change mitigation. By pioneering these efforts, the Glacier Stewardship Program aims to address the urgent and long-term consequences of glacier loss on ecosystems and human societies.