The new “Sustainability” stamp series is kicking off with a design featuring the Pasterze, Austria’s largest glacier.
2025 was designated the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation by the United Nations, and since then, 21st March has been the World Day for Glaciers. The aim of this day, on which we commemorate glaciers, is to make people aware of how important they are and of the effects of glaciers retreating on both humans and ecosystems.
Glaciers store around 70 per cent of the earth’s fresh water and are very important for supplying people with drinking water, for the water cycle and for agriculture, as well as providing a habitat for numerous species that have adapted to living on them. They also play an important role in regulating the global climate. However, climate change is causing glaciers around the world to retreat dramatically: over the last few decades, the Alpine glaciers alone have lost around half of their volume. Landslides, floods, a lack of water, drought and rising sea levels are just a few of the possible consequences of this retreat. The extent of glacial retreat can be seen clearly in the case of the Pasterze at the foot of the Grossglockner: every year the glacier diminishes in thickness by about two metres, and, according to the current research, the glacier’s pronounced tongue might have all but disappeared by 2050. The changes are clearly visible in the comparison between a historic photograph and a photo of the Pasterze taken in 2024 presented on the stamp.
