Together with more than 80 other organisations around the world, Euromontana supports a European manifesto for the governance of glaciers and connected resources.  

Glaciers: the natural and climatic archives of Europe 

Glaciers play a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance, providing freshwater resources, and regulating climate and hydrological patterns. With the growing threat of climate change, conserving glaciers has become more important than ever. In this context, 2025 was declared the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation by the United Nations General Assembly, an important step in recognising the urgency to preserve these cornerstones of life on Earth and highlighting the severity of the situation. 

Yet, European mountains are warming at about twice the rate of the European average, and the economic, social, and environmental impacts of climate change demand immediate and targeted political responses, that are currently lacking.  

First and foremost, understanding the cryosphere and conducting research are essential foundations for actions to preserve glaciers, which act as natural archives holding essential climatic and environmental data. However, policymakers must be able to assess the current and future effects of these changes and to develop immediate and targeted political responses, which are still insufficient today.  

The document highlights key questions to be asked and considered in policies, such as changes in the frequency and intensity of risks in mountainous areas and downstream areas, transformations in ecosystems and in communities living in mountainous areas, water availability and more.  

Recommendations for better governance and preservation of glaciers  

The Manifesto sets out several recommendations to strengthen adaptation:  

• Radically revise the planning of new facilities and infrastructures, especially in the tourism sector, for adapting to ongoing changes and ensuring long-term sustainability. 

• The European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) must better consider ecological principles to better support sustainable living conditions in mountainous areas and reorganize a series of essential services, such as slope maintenance, wildfire prevention, soil erosion and more.  

• Improve risk management in mountainous areas. 

• Involve local communities as the primary experts on their territory. 

• Address glaciers issues as a global challenge through cross-border cooperation to implement coordinated actions. 

More specific recommendations are proposed at European level:  

• Creating a European cryospheric risk monitoring system, 

• Establishing a multidisciplinary network of shared expertise to form a European Glacier Governance (EGG). 

• Enhancing international tools and policies for mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis 

• Supporting Europe’s leading role at global level by orienting EU policies towards the protection of glacial environments 

Euromontana strongly supports the manifesto and invites other organisations to promote it through their networks.