Climate change caused Caucasus glaciers to retreat 600 metres, shrinking freshwater supplies – new UN report

Rising temperatures have caused glaciers in the Caucasus to retreat an average of 600m over the past century, contributing to a loss of more than 11 billion tons of freshwater. Heatwaves and natural disasters are on the rise, but potential exists for environmental progress.  Geneva, 6 November 2024 –Climate change is taking a toll on the six countries of the Caucasus, causing glaciers to shrink and impacting river flows, finds a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report launched ahead of the UNFCCC COP29. Glaciers have already retreated by an average of 600 metres over the past century, while more than 11 billion tonnes of freshwater — previously stored in ice — has been lost since the year 2000, according to the second edition of the Caucasus Environment Outlook (CEO-2) report. The publication focuses on the ecoregion covering Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, as well as regions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and Türkiye. The new report includes 20 maps to visualize environmental trends. Water is increasingly becoming an unevenly distributed resource - river flows in most countries are expected to drop 20% by 2100. In 2020, river flow already plummeted 26% in Armenia and by 20% in Azerbaijan. Between 2000 and 2020, annual flow at the closing section of the Kura river — which spans Türkiye, Georgia and Azerbaijan —fell 20%. Furthermore, groundwater withdrawals have doubled in Armenia since 2000 and shot up by 400% in Azerbaijan. With reduced snow and glacier cover in the mountains, the report’s authors expect freshwater supply to further substantially decrease in the coming decades, calling for innovative solutions and transboundary data sharing and monitoring. Average temperatures in the region could rise by up to 3.6°C by the end of the century compared to the 1970–2000 baseline, under an IPCC upper-medium scenario, with the fastest warming seen in mountainous regions.