World Water Day highlights the importance of fresh water

Glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate, losing an average of 58 billion tonnes of ice every year.

New Delhi: World Water Day is an annual United Nations observance day held on the 22nd of March that highlights the importance of fresh water. The day is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Since 1993, the United Nations observance focusing on the importance of freshwater and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water.

It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis. A core focus of World Water Day is to support the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.

The theme of World Water Day 2025 is ‘Glacier Preservation’. Glaciers are critical to life – their meltwater is essential for drinking water, agriculture, industry, clean energy production and healthy ecosystems.

Rapidly melting glaciers are causing uncertainty to water flows, with profound impacts on people and the planet. According to the United glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate, losing an average of 58 billion tonnes of ice every year.

Around 70% of global freshwater is stored in glaciers and ice sheets. Yet, they are rapidly retreating. In 2023, glaciers lost more than 600 gigatons of water, the largest mass loss registered in 50 years.

The agency said nearly 2 billion people rely on water from glaciers, snowmelt and mountain run-off for drinking, agriculture, and energy production.

The UN has declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, with the first World Day for Glaciers to be held on 21 March, to raise global awareness of the critical connections between the cryosphere, climate change, the water cycle, the economy, environment and society.

According to United Nations “World Water Development Report 2025”: Mountains and glaciers, Twenty-five countries – home to one-quarter of the world’s population – face ‘extremely high’ water stress every year. Approximately 4 billion people, or half the world’s population, experience severe water scarcity for at least part of the year.

The report highlight that the Andes, which supply 50% of the water flowing into the Amazon River, have lost between 30% and 50% of their glaciers since the 1980s.

It is projected that the Mount Kenya, Rwenzori and Kilimanjaro glaciers will have disappeared entirely by 2040 if no action is taken, while the ‘Third Pole’ – also known as the Hindu Kush–Karakoram–Himalayan system – could lose 50% of its glacier volume, which currently spans 100,000 km2, by the year 2100.

Mountains cover 33 million km2 of the Earth’s surface and are vital for sustaining life. They are home to over 1.1 billion people, or 15% of the world’s population. Moreover, a further 2 billion people downstream depend on these natural reservoirs for freshwater resources from melting glaciers.

According to the most recent global estimates (from 2021), the agriculture sector dominates freshwater withdrawals (72%), followed by industry (15%) and domestic (or municipal) use (13%).

Higher-income countries use more water for industry, whereas lower-income countries use 90% (or more) of their water for agricultural irrigation. Over the period 2000–2021, global freshwater withdrawals increased by 14%, corresponding to an average growth rate of 0.7% per year.

Most of this increase occurred in cities, countries and regions undergoing rapid economic development. Population growth does not appear to play a highly significant role in increasing demand for water. In fact, countries where per capita water use is the lowest, including several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, are often those with the fastest growing populations.