Global experts gather in Sichuan to respond to UN glacier initiative

Chinese and foreign scientists have jointly carried out a series of exchange and investigation activities this week to respond to the United Nations' initiative on glacier preservation.

The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, accompanied by the proclamation of the 21st March of each year as the World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025.

A public advocacy and glacier investigation activity with the initiative of "Let the Glacier Cool" was launched at Dagu Glacier scenic area in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a key place in global glacier preservation, from Monday to Tuesday.

In 2024, the Global Glacier Loss List (GGCL) project was jointly launched by Rice University, the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Glaciological Society, the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The project tracks recently disappeared, almost disappeared, and critically endangered glaciers worldwide. Among them, the Dagu Glacier is the only glacier in China on the list.

In this regard, Chinese and foreign glacier experts and scholars conducted in-depth investigations into the changes in Dagu Glacier during the event.

"Let China's voice be heard in the 2025 International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, World Day for Glaciers, and the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences. We need to awaken people's awareness of glacier changes, and everyone can reduce emissions and live a green life to slow down global warming, so that we can prolong the life of glaciers," said Li Zhongqin, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

Meanwhile, the Dagu Glacier International Academic Summit Forum was held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, from Sunday to Tuesday.

The forum was jointly organized by the NIEER, the Center for Glacier Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE) under the CAS, and the Sichuan Dagu Glacier Administration Bureau.

More than 100 glaciologists, climate policy experts and representatives of international organizations from more than 10 countries including China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, the United States and the United Kingdom, attended the conference online and offline, and had in-depth dialogues on the scientific challenges and international cooperation in global glacier protection.

"Because of global warming, glaciers around the world are generally melting. For example, the latest research data released last month showed that the annual loss of global glaciers, if converted into water equivalent, is 273 billion tons. The public can clearly see that the glaciers are shrinking rapidly and disappearing rapidly," said Kang Shichang, director of the IMHE.

Global experts gather in Sichuan to respond to UN glacier initiative

The partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China has been substantive and dynamic, ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn said in Jakarta, Indonesia.

China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership has sustained a sound development momentum and bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful results, according to Kao, who always describes the ties with two words - substantive and dynamic.

"If we look at the actual work that had been carried out in more than three decades, the growth, development and transformation of the relationships, cooperation and partnership have indicated that there is a strong momentum, there's a strong dynamism, and there's a lot of substance in the way both sides have been working together over those decades. So that's why I think these two words would capture the essence of the relationship between ASEAN and China," he said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) aired on Friday.

ASEAN and China have the most number of cooperation mechanisms, which account for almost 20 percent of the total such frameworks that ASEAN has with its 11 official dialog partners.

"Sixty-four mechanisms of cooperation between ASEAN and China cut across the three pillars of ASEAN Community and the ASEAN connectivity. So very wide range. If you look at overall among the eleven dialogue partners, ASEAN and China has [have] the most number of mechanisms," Kao said.

The ASEAN Community comprises three pillars, namely，the ASEAN Political-Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.

Talking about the nature of China-ASEAN cooperation, Kao highlighted the significance of joint actions and engagement.

"I think we had to look at facts. I think facts speak for themselves. Number one, there are many levels of cooperation across the different sectors and pillars of the community. And second, the depth of cooperation. So that's where you can see more engagement, more interactions between both sides. And then the day is what we do together, I think that's important," said the general secretary.

ASEAN-China partnership substantive, dynamic: ASEAN secretary-general