What role do glaciers play in our lives?

In 2025, the United Nations declared the International Year for the Preservation of Glaciers (2025 International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation | International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation), bringing renewed global attention to these vital ecosystems. Glaciers are not only essential freshwater reservoirs but also serve as key indicators of global climate trends. Their preservation demands urgent and coordinated international action. Through sustained investment in monitoring, research, and disaster risk reduction, the global community can contribute to safeguarding both the natural and cultural heritage embodied in glaciers and the broader socio-ecological systems that depend on them.

While this recognition has elevated the visibility of glaciers on the international agenda, it remains uncertain whether they can still be preserved in the face of accelerating climate change and rising global temperatures. Scientific evidence increasingly points to an exponential retreat—and, in some cases, complete disappearance—of glaciers worldwide [1,Vuille et al., 2018].

The Andes, the longest mountain range in the world (8,000 km), is home to a great diversity of mountain glaciers. By 2100, Andean glaciers are expected to have shrunk by more than 70% of their coverage, even if we limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C (La importancia de los glaciares en los países andinos y sus implicancias para el Ecuador | Climate & Development Knowledge Network). Future projections in the Andes suggest that glaciers in the inner tropics, such as Antisana in Ecuador, may be most vulnerable to future warming while glaciers in the more arid outer tropics, such as Zongo in Bolivia, may persist, albeit in a smaller size, in the 21^st century. In the Andes, this includes the loss of iconic glaciers such as the Humboldt in Venezuela and the Carihuairazo in Ecuador [2,3]. These losses mark not only environmental degradation but also cultural and emotional rupture.

Confronted with the reality of living without glaciers—either now or in the near future—we are compelled to ask: what role do glaciers play in our lives? The meaning of their disappearance varies dramatically depending on one’s context. The loss of a glacier carries very different implications for an Indigenous mountain community, whose identity and survival are deeply intertwined with the glacier, than it does for residents of a distant urban center. Yet, across these differences, we share a common destiny shaped by our collective capacity to reconnect with nature and to honor its cycles of life and death.

With these considerations in mind, this essay explores the multiple values, emotions, and cultural beliefs associated with glaciers and their loss in the Andean region (Fig 1). It seeks to examine how glaciers are experienced not merely as physical entities, but as living entities within cosmologies, memory, and local knowledge—revealing the profound cultural dimensions of cryospheric change.

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Fig 1. Multiple values, emotions and symbolic beliefs associated with Andean Glaciers (Author).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000932.g001

Based on a normative-theoretical argument, this essay argues that recognizing glaciers as more-than-human beings with rights—grounded in Andean relational ontologies—is essential to address the ethical, cultural, and political dimensions of glacial loss, and to reconfigure responsibility and climate action in the Anthropocene. This essay draws on a project of documentary production made during 2025 in several Andean countries, called “Glaciares Andinos: Tiempo y Memoria” (Documental sobre glaciares andinos visibiliza el costo humano del deshielo en los Andes Tropicales - CONDESAN), which aims to portrait testimonies of local and indigenous communities, experts, decision-makers and scientists around the socio-cultural impacts of glaciers melting.

Glaciers as global commons and World Heritage

Glaciers are among the most visible and sensitive indicators of climate change, and their retreat reflects the rapid warming of the planet. In this sense, glaciers and postglacial ecosystems must be considered as global commons, as they are highly impacted by anthropogenic climate change impacts and are among the first ones to die because of human actions [4]. Global commons, such as the high seas and the seabed, Antarctica, the atmosphere, and outer space, hold distinctive status in international relations because these ecosystems play a vital role in ensuring humankind’s survival, the subsistence of the planet, and the intergenerational custodianship of the human heritage [5]. According to the global commons law framework, global commons are understood as playing key functions as guardianship of future generations, that entail the peaceful settlement of disputes, and setting norms as the foundation for peaceful relations.

According to a report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 50 World Heritage Sites are currently home to glaciers, encompassing approximately 18,600 individual glaciers and covering an estimated area of 66,000 km² [6]. This constitutes nearly 10% of the Earth’s total glaciated surface, underscoring the global significance of these heritage sites not only for their cultural and natural value but also for their critical socio-environmental role. The glaciers found within World Heritage Sites are invaluable for understanding the pace and consequences of climate change, as they are acting as global sentinels. Their ongoing retreat and degradation pose threats not only to biodiversity and landscape integrity but also to water security, local communities’ livelihoods, and global sea-level rise. Moreover, the loss of glacial ice can trigger natural hazards such as glacial lake outburst floods, further exacerbating risks to human lives and infrastructures.

Recognizing glaciers as global commons, UNESCO has called for the establishment of an international fund dedicated to glacier monitoring and preservation [6]. This fund would play a pivotal role in advancing scientific research by supporting the collection and analysis of long-term data on glacier mass, extent, and dynamics. Furthermore, it aims to foster international collaboration through the creation of exchange networks among researchers, site managers, policymakers, and indigenous communities who are directly affected by glacial change. In addition to research and collaboration, the proposed fund would support the implementation of early warning systems and disaster risk reduction strategies. These measures are essential for mitigating the socio-economic and environmental impacts of glacier loss and ensuring the safety and resilience of populations living in glacier-dependent regions.

Therefore, under the global commons law framework, glaciers are considered by international actors such as UNESCO as Natural and Cultural World Heritage, underlying their function as guardians of future generations and humankind survival. This global recognition grants glaciers with a more-than-human nature that goes beyond the mere ecological function of glaciers as ecosystems regulating climate change, from a Western ontological perspective.

Glaciers as more-than-human beings

In the context of accelerating climate change and widespread ecological degradation, there is growing academic and legal interest in reframing natural entities—such as glaciers—as more-than-human beings [7]. This conceptual turn challenges anthropocentric ontologies by recognizing that ecosystems possess intrinsic value and agency beyond their utility to human interests. Glaciers, in particular, are increasingly positioned not merely as passive indicators of climate change but as relational entities that demand ethical and legal consideration. The agency of glaciers means that their material transformation and possible death produce impacts on human beings’ practices and feelings. According to Salim [8], “more than just shrinking ice, glaciers are more-than-human entities that have relationships with people, affecting and influencing their behaviour”. The field of relational ontology pays attention to non-Western worldviews, in which social personhood and agency extend beyond human beings, meaning that relational worldview is based on the ethics of respect and reciprocity [9–11]. One symbolic example of agency is the nomination by Icelandic citizens of the Snæfellsjökull glacier for presidency (Icelandic Glacier Runs for President, Sparking Rights of Nature Movement – State of the Planet).

The call to defend the voice of the glacier emerges from a broader recognition of the interconnectedness between cryospheric ecosystems and cultural, spiritual, and ecological life. For various Indigenous communities, glaciers are living ancestors, sacred beings, and integral parts of a relational world [12,13]. For many Andean communities, the disappearance of the glacier also means the progressive loss of cultural memory and traditions associated with it (Tradiciones alteradas por el deshielo | El Correo de la UNESCO Tradiciones alteradas por el deshielo).

In Memorias del hielo, Rosa Jijón—recipient of the Mariano Aguilera Prize—explores the melting of the Chimborazo Tayta glacier through community mapping that brings together voices, practices, and emotions around glacial loss (Estoy deshielándome: memorias del Tayta Chimborazo - Plan V). Her work highlights emerging forms of ecological grief and glacier mourning, expressed through storytelling, shared memories, and collective reflection on the glacier as a living presence. These practices function as acts of remembrance and care, sustaining relationships with a disappearing more-than-human being. The project also fostered dialogue between diverse fields and communities—linking glaciology, artisanal weaving, and local social memory—thus enabling both knowledge exchange and collective meaning-making in the face of loss.

For example, around the Chimborazo glacier in the central highlands of Ecuador, community members called hieleros used to collect ice on the top of the volcano to make granizados back down to the city market. Those practices mirror the hard living conditions of the past inheriting colonial times and inequalities for indigenous communities [14]. In 2024, Baltazar Ushca—the last hielero of Chimborazo—passed away in his community of Guano (Muere en Ecuador Baltazar Ushca, “el último hielero” del volcán Chimborazo | CNN). His death prompted a wave of tributes, but also deeper reflection on the future of younger generations and their relationship with the glacier. For decades, Ushca embodied a form of livelihood rooted in physical endurance, historical marginalization, and intimate knowledge of the mountain. Yet today, many young people in communities surrounding the Chimborazo glacier no longer wish to continue these demanding practices, instead aspiring to livelihoods in urban areas or abroad. This generational shift does not signal a rupture with the past, but rather a transformation in how cultural memory is carried forward. It calls for new forms of transmission—through storytelling, education, and collective remembrance—that can sustain the glacier’s presence in social and cultural life, even as its material and experiential realities change.

The rapid retreat and degradation of glaciers under the pressures of global warming is therefore not only an environmental issue but also an ontological and moral crisis. To speak of glaciers as more-than-human beings is to affirm their agency, histories, and capacity to suffer loss—while demanding justice on their behalf. The sacred dimension of glaciers in many Andean communities also involves legal implications to claim just presents and futures especially for young generations [15,16].

From a legal perspective, the recognition of glaciers as subjects of rights marks a radical shift in environmental governance. Several countries have formally recognized the rights of nature, granting legal personhood to ecosystems, rivers, or forests to protect them from destruction (Box 1). Ecuador was the first to recognize these rights in its constitution in 2008. Other key countries with national laws or court rulings include Bolivia, New Zealand, Panama, Uganda, Colombia, Bangladesh, and Spain. Some countries include specific legal protections for glaciers to safeguard them from climate change and industrial pollution. Key examples include India, Argentina, and efforts in Chile to treat glaciers as legal entities or protected natural resources. In the case of Uttarakhand’s glaciers in India, the High Court established the natural objects as legal entities and conferred guardianship responsibilities on several individuals within the state government of Uttarakhand.

In 2023, a groundbreaking bill was introduced in the Peruvian Congress proposing the recognition of rivers, lakes, lagoons, glaciers, and the sea as legal subjects with enforceable rights (Congreso: Proponen que lagunas, glaciares, ríos, lagos, y el mar peruano sean reconocidos como sujetos de derecho - Infobae). This bill, inspired by legal personhood frameworks previously granted to rivers in New Zealand (e.g., the Whanganui River) and Colombia (e.g., the Atrato River), seeks to provide these ecosystems with the right to exist, flourish, be restored, and be defended in court. However, the lack of effective approval of this bill brings uncertainty on the possibility of a shift in glaciers protection and defense in the country.

The recognition of glaciers as rights-bearing entities is particularly urgent in regions like the Andes, where glacial melt is already leading to the collapse of water security, biodiversity loss, and the disruption of Indigenous ways of life. Legal recognition is not merely symbolic: it holds the potential to halt extractive and infrastructural projects that threaten glacial integrity, while affirming the voices of local and indigenous communities who act as stewards of these disappearing worlds. However, this recognition also requires a rethinking of what it means to give a glacier a dignified life and death. While some glaciers may not be recoverable, their passing demands cultural mourning and political acknowledgment. This perspective resists the logic of commodification [17], in which only the most economically valuable ecosystems are preserved. Instead, it insists on the importance of memory, responsibility, and relational ethics in dealing with loss. A dignified death for a glacier involves listening to the stories it holds, respecting the communities it sustains, and ensuring its voice is carried forward in legal and political discourse.

Ultimately, understanding glaciers as more-than-human entities shifts the terrain of climate politics. It invites scholars, activists, and policymakers to engage with glaciers not only as objects of scientific measurement but as beings with rights, histories, and relationships. Defending the voice of the glacier is a step toward a more just and pluralistic environmental ethic—one that affirms the agency of all beings in shaping our shared planetary future.

Who is responsible for the loss of glaciers?

The disappearance of glaciers worldwide is among the most visible and irreversible consequences of anthropogenic climate change. Their retreat is not simply a natural event but a political and ethical crisis that demands a critical interrogation of responsibility. As glaciers vanish—impacting freshwater access, biodiversity, and the cultural fabric of Indigenous and local communities—the question of who is accountable for this loss becomes increasingly urgent. Responsibility must be understood as historically rooted, structurally reproduced, and unevenly distributed across states, industries, and governance systems.

The historical responsibility of the Global North is a central axis in this debate. Industrialized countries have contributed the overwhelming share of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions since the onset of the fossil-fuel-driven economy [18]. These emissions have directly fueled global warming and the accelerated melting of glaciers, particularly in vulnerable regions such as the Andes, the Himalayas, and the Arctic. Despite decades of climate negotiations, many Global North countries have failed to reduce emissions at the scale and speed necessary to prevent catastrophic impacts. Their historic emissions and continued delay in climate action place them at the center of accountability for glacial loss [19].

At the same time, governments in the Global South must also be scrutinized—not for their historical emissions, but for their complicity in sustaining extractive development models [20]. Despite their often-limited carbon footprints, many Global South governments have prioritized short-term economic growth through mining, hydrocarbon extraction, and large-scale infrastructure projects—often in fragile mountain and glacier-fed ecosystems. These policies not only deepen local ecological degradation but also fail to propose genuine alternatives to a carbon-intensive development paradigm. In doing so, they perpetuate the very systems that contribute to glacier retreat and social vulnerability.

Moreover, industries—particularly in fossil fuel, mining, and agribusiness sectors—bear significant responsibility due to their sustained lack of climate ambition and resistance to meaningful regulatory change. Many have continued to expand operations in ecologically sensitive zones, including glacial regions, while investing in greenwashing rather than decarbonization [21]. Their lobbying power has often undermined international and national climate policies, delaying transitions to more sustainable economic models.

In light of this complex web of responsibility, the emerging movement toward recognizing ecocide as an international crime offers a legal and moral pathway for holding powerful actors accountable [22]. Ecocide, defined as widespread or long-term environmental destruction, would allow for the prosecution of individuals—particularly corporate and state leaders—whose actions knowingly contribute to irreversible ecological damage, such as the loss of glaciers. Enshrining ecocide in international law could help close the accountability gap and shift the legal system toward recognizing the rights of nature and the responsibility of humans to prevent irreversible harm.

Recognising ecocide under the Rome Statute could play a critical role in advancing climate justice by strengthening accountability for activities that contribute to glacial retreat and degradation—such as fossil fuel expansion, extractive industries, and environmentally destructive infrastructure in fragile mountain regions [23,24]. Such recognition would not only help protect glacier-dependent ecosystems and communities, but also complement existing legal and policy frameworks that remain insufficient to address irreversible cryospheric loss.

Recognizing ecocide as an international crime would establish individual criminal liability for corporate and political leaders, exposing them to prosecution and potential imprisonment rather than treating environmental harm as a business cost. Its inclusion in the Rome Statute would enable the International Criminal Court (ICC) enforcement, strengthening deterrence and harmonizing legal standards across countries. This could also drive corporate and financial shifts, discouraging investment in destructive activities and reinforcing environmental due diligence. Extending beyond armed conflict, ecocide would address large-scale environmental harm in peacetime and serve as a preventative legal tool to halt projects likely to cause severe and widespread damage.

While significant procedural, political, and substantive challenges persist, the criminalization of ecocide could also catalyze a broader shift in societal values. In the case of glaciers, this would mean moving beyond viewing them solely as water reservoirs or climate indicators, toward recognizing them as more-than-human entities with intrinsic value and the right to exist. By embedding a legal duty of care toward nature, ecocide law could reframe humanity’s relationship with glaciers—transforming their destruction from an unfortunate byproduct of development into a matter of legal responsibility and moral concern, and thereby reinforcing the foundations of global climate justice.

Between loss, hope and mobilization: emotional dimensions of climate change

Beyond the legal and political implications of recognizing glaciers as more-than-human entities through the Rights of Nature and the crime of Ecocide, the loss of glaciers also implies emotional impacts on individuals and their willingness to act [25]. Recent scholarship has increasingly examined the emotional, mental, and cultural impacts of climate change on diverse populations, revealing both the harms and the transformative potential embedded in climate experiences. While many studies highlight the negative consequences of climate change—particularly for young people and marginalized communities—others emphasize how it can inspire activism, agency, and hope. However, various authors suggest that hope can turn into cruelty when it dismisses the logics of colonial injustice and inequalities [26].

Notably underexplored are the personal and community-level experiences of climate-induced wellbeing erosion, especially among Indigenous Peoples. Research such as that by Ayeb-Karlsson et al. [27] illustrates how climate-related immobility in Inuit communities disrupts land-based practices essential to mental health, posing culturally specific forms of harm linked to broader colonial histories. This underscores an urgent need for further inquiry into how climate-driven immobility intersects with (post)colonial trauma globally, to inform more inclusive and just adaptation strategies.

At the same time, the rise of movements like Fridays For Future and Extinction Rebellion signals a reconfiguration of climate activism, where youth-led, emotionally driven action reframes the climate crisis as both a political and moral emergency [28]. These movements reflect not a rupture with the past but an evolution in tactics and participation, offering new avenues to channel collective emotion into systemic change.

What can we do while the glacier remains alive?

As glaciers retreat under the intensifying pressures of climate change, a critical window remains open for action—not only to mitigate further loss but to engage meaningfully with these dynamic, life-sustaining ecosystems while they are still alive. This moment of transition invites not passive observation but active responsibility. It demands a rethinking of how societies value, relate to, and respond to the cryosphere, particularly in regions where glaciers play essential hydrological, cultural, and spiritual roles.

One of the most powerful actions is the transmission of knowledge between generations. Glaciers are not only physical formations but also carriers of ancestral memory, place-based knowledge, and spiritual significance—especially for Indigenous and local communities. Elders possess invaluable understandings of glacial rhythms, weather patterns, and environmental signals, many of which are not captured by scientific models (See the documentary, “Glaciares Andinos: Tiempo y memoria”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNZ54KO5458). Ensuring that this knowledge is passed on to younger generations—through oral storytelling, community practices, and place-based education—helps preserve cultural continuity and fosters a deeper, relational ethics of care for the land and ice.

At the same time, scientific research and sustained glaciological study are essential. Monitoring glacier mass, flow, and meltwater dynamics enhances our ability to model future water availability, assess climate impacts, and inform disaster risk reduction. Interdisciplinary approaches that combine physical science with Indigenous knowledge systems can produce more holistic understandings of glacial change [29]. Such research not only informs policy but also strengthens global awareness of the critical thresholds we approach.

Another key dimension involves reconnecting youth and urban populations to the cryosphere. In many countries, people living in cities remain disconnected from the visible impacts of glacial retreat, despite being both contributors to and beneficiaries of glacial ecosystems. Educational programs, artistic expressions, virtual reality technologies, and youth-led activism can play crucial roles in bridging this disconnect. Youth engagement is particularly vital: it fosters long-term environmental stewardship and channels intergenerational energy into advocacy and innovation [30].

Finally, living with glaciers also means learning how to adapt to the effects of climate change. Communities downstream of glaciers are increasingly vulnerable to water scarcity, glacial lake outburst floods, and ecosystem shifts. Adaptation strategies—such as early warning systems, water conservation infrastructure, and resilient agricultural practices—must be locally tailored and culturally appropriate [31]. More importantly, adaptation should not be reduced to technical fixes; it must include social and political processes that empower communities and center equity in climate planning.

Urban and rural youth initiatives to preserve paramos connecting with Andean glaciers

Páramos are strategic high-altitude ecosystems in the Andes (3,000–5,000 meters above sea level) that function as natural sponges, retaining water from rainfall, fog, and glacial melt. They serve as essential water reservoirs and regulators, supplying drinking water to millions of people and storing large amounts of carbon, often in close connection with glaciers. The páramos of Ecuador are not only vital high-altitude ecosystems that regulate water cycles and provide critical ecosystem services to downstream populations, but also cultural landscapes shaped and stewarded by Indigenous and rural communities over generations.

As these territories face increasing pressures from climate change, extractive industries, and land-use conflicts, there is a growing need to promote intergenerational and intercultural dialogues that connect ecological knowledge, social justice, and community resilience. The URKUWAMBRA initiative responds to this need by fostering knowledge exchange between urban and rural youth, centered on themes of water justice and reciprocity [32]. The initiative was created in 2023 by University San Francisco de Quito in the Ecuadorian paramos of Cayambe, involving indigenous communities of Cangahua y La Chimba who live close by the Cayambe volcano and glacier. The volcano is often referred as “Mama Cayambe” by indigenous people and related to various rituals and myths in the local culture.

The project aims to cultivate a new generation of knowledge keepers—young people from both Quito and páramo communities of Cayambe—who can serve as bridges between different knowledge systems. These youth are empowered to learn from and disseminate traditional community practices related to water governance, territorial stewardship, and social organization in the páramos. The program emphasizes the co-production of knowledge, valuing both ancestral wisdom and scientific understanding, and promotes equity in voice and participation—particularly highlighting the leadership of women such as Ecuadorian indigenous defenders Transito Amaguaña and Dolores Cacuango, and the importance of gender-inclusive water governance.

At the heart of this initiative is URKU KAMAS: Guardians of the Highlands, an immersive educational experience designed for high school students. Through a role-playing simulation, participants step into the roles of community members managing an Andean páramo territory, confronting real-world socio-environmental challenges such as water scarcity, agricultural conflicts, mining threats, and intergenerational tensions. This pedagogical tool not only brings to life the complexity of community decision-making but also fosters empathy, critical thinking, and collaboration among youth from diverse backgrounds.

By facilitating dialogue between urban and rural youth, URKUWAMBRA encourages the recognition of mutual dependence between city and highland territories, especially in relation to water resources. The project frames the páramo and the Cayambe glacier not simply as a distant ecological service provider, but as a living territory sustained by community knowledge, care, and governance. In doing so, it challenges dominant top-down models of environmental management and instead promotes reciprocal relationships rooted in solidarity, equity, and respect for plural ways of knowing.

URKUWAMBRA contributes to the construction of a more just and inclusive environmental future in Ecuador by centering youth as active agents of change and intercultural dialogue. Through experiential learning, role-play, and the recognition of community practices, the initiative creates space for transformative engagements with territory, identity, and responsibility—ensuring that the páramos, the glacier and the communities who protect them, remain vibrant and resilient in the face of ongoing ecological and social transformation.

Beyond glacier loss: a call for reimagining human responsibility in a warming world

Protecting non-human entities—rivers, glaciers, forests, and other ecosystems—can, paradoxically, make us better humans. The rights of glaciers should not be viewed merely as a legal strategy but as a transformative ethical and educational framework. It invites us to reimagine our place within a richly interconnected world, where other beings possess not only ecological value but also agency and meaning. To truly embrace this perspective, we must develop educational tools that cultivate fascination with the planet’s biological and cultural diversity. Such tools can help foster a deeper awareness of the abilities and capabilities of other species and living entities, nurturing a sense of humility, tolerance, and respect for these “others” and their right to exist on their own terms. In recognizing their value, we are also reshaping our own humanity—becoming more responsible, compassionate, and attentive members of a shared Earth community.

The loss of glaciers is not an unfortunate inevitability but the outcome of layered political, economic, and historical processes. Addressing this loss requires moving beyond narrow framings of climate responsibility and cruel hope to embrace a more comprehensive approach—one that recognizes the historical emissions of the Global North, the policy failures of Global South elites, the obstructionist role of industry, and the urgent need for international legal instruments like ecocide. Only through such multi-scalar accountability can justice for glaciers—and for the communities who depend on them—begin to be realized. This entails, for example, supporting initiatives that foster intergenerational transmission of knowledge, cultural practices, and memory within Indigenous communities; ensuring just and sustainable livelihood transitions for young people in emerging post-glacier contexts; and establishing mechanisms for reparations and compensation to glacier-dependent communities affected by climate-induced ecological loss.

What we do while the glacier remains alive matters profoundly. It is a time to listen, learn, and act—to carry forward knowledge, deepen scientific inquiry, reconnect fragmented relations, and prepare for an uncertain future. These actions not only honor the remaining life of the glacier but also affirm our own capacity for collective responsibility in the face of planetary change.