Due to climate change, a natural occurrence, Bolivia has lost up to 42 percent of glaciers in the last three decades and, therefore, an unquantifiable amount of water, Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora revealed on Wednesday.
“Bolivia is one of the countries that are most aware of the role it has as a State to try to organize the use of water (…) climate change has affected the country, which has lost, according to data, between 37 and 42 percent of tropical glaciers in 30 years,” he told state-owned Bolivia TV.
He said that this large percentage of melted glaciers also translates into water loss which, in his opinion, has not been able to recover all this time.
“That is why it is important to be aware that this climate crisis, we do not call it climate change, is resulting in that little by little there is less fresh water on the planet, and that should call our attention because, without it, there is no life,” he warned.
Arce expressed this concern in the framework of the II United Nations Water Conference being held in New York, United States, where he presented the Bolivian proposal with a dozen points aimed at reaffirming water as a human right and ensuring access to “clean and safe” water, guaranteeing the integrity of Mother Earth.
The Illimani, Sajama, Chacaltaya, San Enrique, Picachu Kasiri, Chiar Kherini, Zongo, Lengua Quebrada, María Lloco, Wila Llojera are tropical Andean glaciers that are in the process of disappearing due to climate change.
According to a study by the Bolivian Mountain Institute (IBM), these glaciers have been melting for 30 years.
The Bolivian president said that melting glaciers is not only a problem for Bolivia or the Latin American region but on a global scale.