IYGP 2025 side event Panel on Glaciers at the crossroads: Climate challenges and responses

Organisers: ICIMOD, UN ESCAP

Zoom Registration Link

About the event

In December 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution to declare 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation (IYGP). The official launch of the 2025 IYGP will feature a high-level plenary opening, and a series of online side events scheduled for 21 January 2025.

Co-organised by the IYGP2025 Task Force 2, including UN ESCAP and ICIMOD, this virtual side event will bring together activists, policymakers, scientists, and development practitioners to explore innovative solutions for strengthening transboundary and cross-sectoral water cooperation in glacier-fed basins. Participants will share regional insights and discuss cooperative strategies to mitigate the impacts of glacier melt on downstream communities and enhance regional data-sharing for building regional climate resilience strategies.

Draft Program (60 minutes)

Setting the scene (5 minutes) 

• Sangmin Nam, Director, EDD, ESCAP (confirmed)

Keynote Presentation (14 mins)

• Regional impacts of melting of glacier on water-food-energy nexus – ESCAP IDD (TBC) (7 minutes, confirmed)

Panel discussion (25 minutes)

• Impact of melting of glaciers on water regimes and local community livelihood: Manisha Arya, Program Manager & Community Weaver at EarthJust Ecosystems Foundation & Youth Climate Leader with UNICEF India and YuWaah (confirmed)
• The importance of Glaciers as a pillar for tourism: Silvia Azdreeva, the first Bulgarian woman to climb K2, the second highest peak in the world. She also climbed Mount Everest and Lhotse in one expedition (tbc)
• Himalayas Under Threat: Addressing Risks and Bridging Data Gaps: Susa Manandhar, master’s Student at Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, TU, Program Assistant at the Small Earth Nepal. (confirmed)
• Opportunities, challenges and way ahead for the HKH through the IYGP: Aishwarya Sanas, PhD candidate, Department of International Relations and Governance Studies, Shiv Nadar University in India and part of HKH Women on Ice. (confirmed)

Moderator: UNESCAP

Q&A (10 minutes)

Wrapping up and closing (5 minutes)

• Mohd Farooq Azam, Senior Cryosphere Specialist, Intervention Manager, ICIMOD

To join the panel discussion, please register on the link below:

Zoom Registration Link