WorldHeritageGlaciersSentinelsofclimatechange
WorldHeritageGlaciers
Sentinelsofclimatechange
1Publishedin2022bytheUnitedNationsEducational,ScientificandCultural
Organization(UNESCO),7,placedeFontenoy,75352Paris07SP,France
andtheIUCN,InternationalUnionforConservationofNatureandNatural
Resources,RueMauverney28,1196Gland,Switzerland.
(c)UNESCOandIUCN2022
ISBN:978-92-3-100557-2
DOI:10.3929/ethz-b-000578916
ThispublicationisavailableinOpenAccessundertheAttributionShareAlike
3.0IGO(CC-BY-SA3.0IGO)license(creativecommons/licenses/
by-sa/3.0/igo/).Byusingthecontentofthispublication,theusersaccept
tobeboundbythetermsofuseoftheUNESCOOpenAccessRepository
(unesco/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en).
Thedesignationsemployedandthepresentationofmaterialthroughoutthis
publicationdonotimplytheexpressionofanyopinionwhatsoeveronthepart
ofUNESCOandIUCNconcerningthelegalstatusofanycountry,territory,city
orareaorofitsauthorities,orconcerningthedelimitationofitsfrontiersor
boundaries.
Theideasandopinionsexpressedinthispublicationarethoseofthe
authors;theyarenotnecessarilythoseofUNESCOanddonotcommitthe
Organization.
Suggestedcitation:UNESCO,IUCN,2022:WorldHeritageGlaciers:Sentinels
ofclimatechange,Paris,UNESCO;Gland,IUCN.
Imagesandfiguresmarkedwithanasterisk(*)donotfallundertheCC-BY-SA
licenseandmaynotbeusedorreproducedwithoutthepriorpermissionof
thecopyrightholder.
Contributors:TalesCarvalhoResendeandMikhailStepanov(UNESCO);Jean-
BaptisteBossonandMatthewEmslie-Smith(IUCN);DanielFarinotti,Romain
HugonnetandMatthiasHuss(ETHZurich/SwissFederalInstituteforForest,
SnowandLandscapeResearch)andEtienneBerthier(LEGOS/CNRS).
SwissFederalInstituteforForest,
SnowandLandscapeResearchWSL
Proofreader:JillGaston
Acknowledgments:RobbertCasier,GuyDebonnet,DorineDubois,Lazare
EloundouAssomo,MariaGropa,SusannaKari,AnilMishra,NolwaziMjwara,
ErnestoOttoneRamirez,RichardVeillon
Graphicdesign:ScienseedandPhilippeLauby
ThispublicationisacontributiontotheUNESCO"FutureKeepers”campaign
(whc.unesco/en/futurekeepers)madepossiblebytheAustralian
Government.WorldHeritageGlaciersSentinelsofclimatechange
Shortsummary
Limitingglobalwarmingto1.5°Ccould
saveglaciersintwo-thirdsofWorld
Heritagesites
GlaciersarecrucialsourcesoflifeonEarthastheyprovidevitalwaterresourcestohalfof
humanityfordomesticuse,agricultureandhydropower.Theyarealsosacredplacesfor
manylocalcommunitiesandattractmillionsoftouristsglobally.
Glaciersaresomeofthemostvaluableindicatorsforunderstandingclimatechange.
AmongthemostdramaticevidencethatEarth;sclimateiswarmingistheretreatand
disappearanceofglaciersaroundtheworld.Closelyobservingandquantifyingthis
phenomenonisessentialtodevelopeffectiveadaptationresponses.
Around18,600glaciershavebeenidentifiedin50WorldHeritagesites.Theseglaciers
spananareaofabout66,000km^2,representingalmost10%oftheEarth’sglacierizedarea.
Researchstudiesperformedwithsatellitedatahighlightthattheseglaciershavebeen
retreatingatanacceleratingratesince2000.WorldHeritageglaciersloseonaverage
some58billiontonnesoficeeveryyear—equivalenttothetotalannualvolumeofwater
consumedinFranceandSpaintogether—andcontributetoalmost5%ofglobalobserved
sea-levelrise.Projectionsindicatethatglaciersinone-thirdofWorldHeritageglacierized
siteswilldisappearby2050regardlessoftheappliedclimatescenarioandglaciersin
aroundhalfofallsitescouldalmostentirelydisappearby2100inabusiness-as-usual
emissionsscenario.Limitingglobal
warmingto
Themostimportantprotectivemeasuretocounteractsubstantialglacierretreatworldwide1.5°C
istodrasticallyreducegreenhousegasemissions.Ifemissionsaredrasticallycuttolimitcouldsaveglaciers
globalwarmingto1.5°Crelativetopre-industriallevels,glaciersintwo-thirdsofWorldin2/3ofWorld
Heritagesitescouldbesaved.Atsitelevel,adaptativemeasuresneedtobestrengthenedHeritagesites
torespondtoinevitableglacierchangesinthenearfuture.Theseincludeidentifying
knowledgegapsandimprovingmonitoringnetworks,designingandimplementingearly
warninganddisasterriskreductionmeasures,makingglaciersafocusoftargetedpolicy,
andpromotingknowledgeexchange,stakeholderengagementandcommunication.
Thesuccessfulimplementationofthesemeasuresrequiresthemobilizationofkey
stakeholders(e.g.,governments,civilsociety,IndigenousPeoples,localcommunitiesand
theprivatesector)todevelopsustainablefinancingandinvestments,notablythroughthe
establishmentofaninternationalfundforglacierresearchandmonitoring.
“Sincewarsbegininthe
mindsofmenandwomen,
itisinthemindsofmenand
womenthatthedefencesof
peacemustbeconstructed.”
3WorldHeritageGlaciers
SentinelsofclimatechangeWorldHeritageGlaciersSentinelsofclimatechange
Contents
ShortSummary___________________________________________________________________4
1WorldHeritageglaciers:keystonesoflife_________________________________6
1.1ThecriticalimportanceofglaciersforsustaininglifeonEarth______________6
1.2Thedynamicsofglaciers_______________________________________________7
1.3WorldHeritagesites:hostingsomeoftheplanet’smosticonic
glaciers__________________________________________________________________10
2WorldHeritageglaciersinachangingclimate__________________________16
2.1Glaciersinawarmingclimate_________________________________________16
2.2Significanticemasslossandsea-levelriseintheearly21stcentury__17
2.3WorldHeritageglaciers’acceleratedmelting________________________22
2.4DisappearingWorldHeritageglaciers________________________________23
3Limitingglobalwarmingto1.5°C:acriticalactiontoprotectWorld
Heritageglaciers________________________________________________________25
4Conclusion_____________________________________________________________________29
5References_________________________________________________________________30
6RelevantUNESCOpolicies,strategiesandguidelinesonWorldHeritage,
glaciersandclimateaction______________________________________________32
5