The Adamello glacier, the largest in Italy, continues to retire under the blows of the climatic crisis. In 2024 the forehead recorded a dramatic retreat of 127 meters, the worst figure of recent years. An increasingly worrying trend: -114 meters in 2022, -90 in 2021. A silent agony, also measured by the mass balance 2024: -0.36 meters of equivalent water, still negative, although less dramatic than the collapse of 2022 (over -2 meters).
To attract attention to this environmental emergency, Legambiente guided a Flash Mob at high altitude, as a preview of the 2025 glacier caravan campaign.
A large 4 × 4 meters banner, with the writing of European Manifesto for the governance of glacierswas unrolled among the adamello ice, around which hundreds of participants formed a symbolic human chain. A colored human river, coming from different European countries, has launched a clear message to governments: a European governance is needed to save the white giants.
The event was attended by Legambiente, CAI, Italian Glaciological Foundation, Cipra Italia, and many others including public bodies, NGOs, European projects and universities – over 80 signatories of the European Manifesto. Also present were realities such as Agrap, Cipra Sud Tirolo, Mountain Wilderness, Polytechnic of Milan, WWF Italia, Lipu, and Protect Our Winters Italy.
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A manifesto in 8 actions to save the glaciers
The European manifesto for glaciers puts eight concrete actions on the table. Among these:
- A European Cryoster monitoring system
- A multidisciplinary network of experts for a European glaciers’ governance (Egg)
- Shared policies for adaptation and mitigation
- Enhancement of international tools
- Active protection of glaciers
- Collaborations with schools, universities and research centers
- Creation of spaces for comparison between the territories
- Sharing good practices between European countries
The goal? A Europe united in the defense of the cryosphere, with immediate and coordinated actions. No country can face a crisis alone that is global.
Carovana of glaciers 2025: the journey to tell the crisis
The Adamello initiative gave the symbolic way to the sixth edition of the glaciers’ caravan, which will take place from 17 August to 2 September 2025 with five stages through the Alps:
The campaign will once again address the most urgent themes: glacial dissolution, extreme weather events, oversize, climatic adaptation, biodiversity and sustainability. In each stage, the documentary on the agony of Alpine glaciers will be screened, with the participation of testimonials such as the journalist Milena Boccadoro, the Eugenio group in via di Gioia, and the writer Loredana Lipperini.
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