What can be done

Glaciers respond to climate with a delay. Even if temperatures stopped rising today, Swiss glaciers would lose about a third of their remaining volume within 25 years.

What happens after that is still being decided. With strong global climate protection, in line with the Paris Agreement, about a quarter of today’s ice would survive the century, most of it above 3,100 m. Without it, practically all Swiss glaciers would be gone by 2100.

Covering glaciers or engineering the climate treats symptoms. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to keep glaciers in the Alps and around the world. Switzerland’s Climate and Innovation Act, approved in 2023, commits the country to net zero by 2050.