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UN / WATER GLACIERS PRESERVATION
STORY: UN / GLACIERS PRESERVATION
TRT: 2:14
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 MARCH 2023, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
2. Wide shot, ECOSOC
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Glaciers are also the world’s water towers. They represent the largest reservoir of fresh water on the planet — supporting our nutrition, health, economies, and energy production. And nearly two billion people — one out of every four people on earth — live in areas where glaciers and seasonal snow-melt supply their water. But these silent giants are facing a rude awakening.”
4. Wide shot, ECOSOC
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Global warming is a global warning that we are on the wrong track. And melting glaciers are the canary in the coalmine. Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tons of ice mass every year. The Greenland ice cap is melting even faster — losing 270 billion tons per year. To put that in perspective, that combined total ice melt in just one year is the equivalent of a wall of ice fully 5 meters high, covering my entire home country of Portugal.”
6. Wide shot, ECOSOC
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Unless we reverse this trend, the consequences will be catastrophic. Low-lying communities and entire countries could be erased forever. We would witness mass movements of entire populations — and fierce competition for water and land. And disasters would accelerate worldwide — including floods, droughts and landslides.”
8. Med shot, audience members
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Let’s stop global warming in its tracks. Let’s help all countries build more resilient futures. As we look ahead to the International Year for Glaciers’ Preservation in 2025, let’s act now to mobilize greater political, private and public will to conserve our glaciers and all they give to us.”
10. Wide shot, ECOSOC
The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned today (22 Mar) that “Global warming is a global warning that we are on the wrong track” and “melting glaciers are the canary in the coalmine.”
At an event dedicated to the preservation of glaciers on the sidelines of the UN 2023 Water Conference, the UN chief noted that Antarctica is losing an average of 150 billion tons of ice mass every year and the Greenland ice cap is melting even faster — losing 270 billion tons per year.
Guterres added, “To put that in perspective, that combined total ice melt in just one year is the equivalent of a wall of ice fully 5 meters high, covering my entire home country of Portugal.”
Noting that glaciers represent the largest reservoir of fresh water on the planet, the Secretary-General said they “are also the world’s water towers.”
According to him, “nearly two billion people — one out of every four people on earth — live in areas where glaciers and seasonal snow-melt supply their water.”
But, the UN chief warned, “these silent giants are facing a rude awakening.”
Guterres also said that, unless the world reverses this trend, “the consequences will be catastrophic.”
“Low-lying communities and entire countries could be erased forever. We would witness mass movements of entire populations — and fierce competition for water and land. And disasters would accelerate worldwide — including floods, droughts and landslides,” explained Guterres.
The Secretary-General added, “Let’s stop global warming in its tracks. Let’s help all countries build more resilient futures. As we look ahead to the International Year for Glaciers’ Preservation in 2025, let’s act now to mobilize greater political, private and public will to conserve our glaciers and all they give to us.”
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