One third of them glaciers which are included in its list of World Heritage Sites UNESCO disappear by 2050 “under any climate scenario,” report says UNwhich calls for “immediate reductions in carbon emissions” to save the remaining two-thirds.

The report concerns 18,600 glaciers with a total area of ​​66,000 square kilometers located in 50 World Heritage Sites, i.e. 10% of the total glacier surface on Earth, “representative” of the state of glaciers worldwide, the UNESCO said.

According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released this spring, melting glaciers and snow are one of the ten biggest threats to climate change.

According to UNESCO, the World Heritage Site’s glaciers are melting at a rate of 58 billion tons of ice per year, the same amount of water used by France and Spain each year, contributing to sea level rise. Two-thirds of these glaciers “could be saved if we limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he added.

The UN Climate Conference (COP27), which will be held from 6 to 18 November in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will be “crucial for finding solutions,” said Audrey Azoulay, Director of UNESCO.

All of Africa’s UNESCO World Heritage glaciers are “likely to be gone” by 2050, especially those in Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro National Park.

In Europe, glaciers are expected to disappear in the Pyrenees, in France and Spain, as well as in the Dolomites in Italy, as well as in Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks in the United States.

The volume of glaciers in the Three Parallel Rivers Conservation Area in the Chinese province of Yunnan has halved and is now melting faster than others.

“Approximately 50% of World Heritage glaciers could almost completely disappear by 2100 if gas emissions remain at current levels,” UNESCO warned.

In addition to calling for a “drastic” reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, UNESCO is calling for a “global fund to monitor and conserve glaciers”.

^{According to AFP, APE-MPE}