POLICY BRIEF article
Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Conservation and Restoration Ecology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fevo.2025.1646136
This article is part of the Research TopicImpacts and Adaptations in Montane Ecosystems Facing Climate ChangeView all 3 articles
From glacier retreat to sustainable development: How climate-resilient water management can contribute to transformative change in mountains
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- 2Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI), Bremerhaven, Germany
- 3Secretariat of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), Berlin, Germany
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Mountains are particularly affected by climate change, and the impacts of climate change on mountains and associated glaciers are increasingly well understood. The changes in downstream water flow regimes have far-reaching impacts on nature and people. Yet, climate change adaptation in mountains is lagging behind. Using the requirements of a climate-resilient water management, we explore ice reservoirs and dams as local climate change adaptation measures, addressing glacier retreat through compensating for the loss of ice storage. Based on this, we identify specific demands to promote sustainable development in mountain regions affected by glacier retreat. While glacier retreat can only be counteracted by limiting global warming, context-specific and effective adaptation to changing mountain environments should address socio-economic challenges as well as safeguarding ecosystem services equally.
Keywords: climate change adaptation, Water storage, ice reservoirs, dams, Watershed management, global policy, Indigenous and local knowledge, monitoring hat gelöscht: 625
Received: 12 Jun 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Geschke, Michael and Gundelach. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jonas Geschke, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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