Initiative to Protect Glaciers Launched at COP28

On Sunday, an initiative to protect the world's glaciers was launched at the China Pavilion of the COP28 climate change conference.

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At the side event of COP28, or the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, delegates and scientists shared their views on the risks of melting glaciers and ways to slow down that process.

A project named "Memory of Glaciers: Global Exploration Initiative" was launched to step up research and protection of glaciers as well as raise public awareness.

Glaciers bear witness to the history of climate change on the planet, and melting glaciers will bring a series of risks aside from rising sea levels, delegates said.

Potential risks will include damage to high mountain ecosystems, increased hazards of landslides and floods, as well as losses of tourism and cultural assets. Measures that need to be taken include limiting global warming through reducing greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing adaptation strategies which can help reduce hazardous impacts. 

According to the report "Ten New Reflections in Climate Science," which was prepared by Future Earth, The Earth League and World Climate Research Programme, humanity is about to exceed the limit of 1.5 degrees of global warming set in the Paris Agreement.

Therefore, it is essential to reduce as much as possible the magnitude and time in which the world is above 1.5 degrees to reduce losses, damages, and the risk of irreversible changes.