The first global alliance for the protection of the planet's poles and glaciers is taking shape, with about thirty countries and international organizations ready to multiply their efforts to reduce emissions and strengthen cooperation in the field of scientific research. A task force that was born in Paris, eight years after the famous COP21 climate agreement, thanks to the One Planet-Polar Summit, which saw scientists and policy makers side by side to address the ice emergency. Also in the front row is Italy which, as stated by the Minister of University and Research Anna Maria Bernini, is ready to make its contribution through scientific collaborations, investments in technologies and infrastructures and a unified national polar research program. "It is through dialogue, collaboration and data sharing that we can improve our knowledge of the Poles," the minister said. "We must recognize that science diplomacy is a practical necessity and a great opportunity at this time of deep global tensions."
French President Emmanuel Macron also stressed that the focus on the climate issue must remain high despite wars and international tensions. The urgency of the situation is underlined by the most recent data presented by scientists in recent days. 2021 and 2022 saw a massive reduction in mountain glaciers, with ice loss rates averaging 20% higher than over the past decade. At least half of these glaciers are expected to be lost by 2100. "The Earth is losing more than one trillion tons of ice per year, more than 7,000 times the annual water consumption of the entire city of Paris," said the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), Josef Aschbacher, recalling how space and satellites can provide decisive help against climate change, which today represents "the greatest challenge facing humanity."
The appeals of the scientific community were taken up in the final document, which indicated three main objectives: to increase international efforts to reduce emissions, to strengthen scientific cooperation in the polar regions and on glaciers, and to take greater account of the effects of melting ice in economic decision-making processes. The document promises support for the establishment of a United Nations decade dedicated to polar and glaciological sciences that will begin in 2025, declares support for initiatives such as the Ice Memory Project (which aims to collect and preserve ice cores from glaciers at risk of disappearing) and hopes for an expansion of the high-level group 'Ambition on Melting Ice' which brings together countries and organizations in defense of glaciers around the world. Finally, the declaration launches a grand coalition of more than 40 coastal and glacier countries from around the world with the aim of working together to tackle rising seas.
Satisfaction on the part of the representatives of the scientific community, even if there is some skepticism. The one taken at the Polar Summit "is a small significant step, but now concrete actions are needed," said Carlo Brabant, director of the Institute of Polar Sciences of the CNR and member of the delegation of Italian researchers. "We don't want this enthusiasm to be extinguished as it was in the aftermath of COP21 in Paris in 2015."
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