On March
21, 2025, to celebrate World Water Day and the inaugural World Glacier Day, the
International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation
(IRTCES), together with China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower
Research (IWHR), the UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, and other partners,
organized the Webinar on Glacier Protection. The theme of the event was
"Glacial Sediment, Soil Erosion, and Hazard Management." Experts from
IWHR, UNESCO East Asia, the Advisory Committee of International Sediment
Initiative (ISI) – IHP – UNESCO, the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research
(ITP-CAS), and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources
Research (IGSNRR-CAS) participated in the webinar.
The
webinar began with speeches by Ms. Ai Sugiura, Programme Specialist and Head of
Natural Sciences, Regional Office for East Asia; Prof. Vít Vilímek, Working
group leader of ISI Thematic Priority 3 (Glacier-related sediment, erosion and
hazards management); and Mr. Zhang Jianli, Deputy Director of IRTCES. They
highlighted that World Water Day 2025 focuses on glacier preservation, that
March 21 will henceforth be observed as World Glacier Day, raising awareness of
glaciers' critical role in the climate system and hydrological cycle, as well
as the impacts of rapid glacial retreat. They also emphasized UNESCO’s
commitment to open science and data-sharing in glacier protection, shared ISI’s
achievements in glacier-related research, and introduced IWHR’s contributions
to glacier studies. They called for global action to strengthen glacier
research and safeguard vital water resources for the future. The opening
session was moderated by Prof. Wang Yujie, Director of the Division of International
Cooperation, IWHR.
The
keynote Speech session, chaired by Prof. Shi Hongling, Division Chief of IRTCES and
Head of ISI’s Global Secretariat, featured three presentations:
- Glacial
Lakes, Outburst Floods, and Extreme Sediment Transport Events – Dr. Adam Emmer,
Cascade | The mountain processes and mountain hazards group, Institute of
Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, Austria;
- Variation
of Riverine Runoff and Sediment Flux over the Tibetan Plateau Under Climate
Change – Prof. Zhang Fan, ITP-CAS; and
- Remote
Sensing and Modeling of Recent Glacier Mass Loss Hotspots in the Tibetan
Plateau" – Dr. Li Xingdong, IWHR.
The Q/A
and Discussion session was moderated by Professor Liu Cheng, former member of
the ISI Advisory Group and Vice President of WASER. Dr. Yu Guo’an from the IGSNRR-CAS,
and the keynote speakers Dr. Emmer, Prof. Zhang, and Dr. Li participated in the
discussion as panelists. Prof. Matjaz Mikos (UNESCO Chair in Water-Related
Disaster Risk Reduction) was also engaged in the discussion. Key challenges in glacier-related
sediment, erosion and hazards management was deeply discussed and addressed. The
webinar concluded with consensus on the need for enhanced international
cooperation to address glacier retreat and its impacts on water resources.
Participants emphasized the importance of continued research and data sharing
to support evidence-based policymaking for glacier preservation.
