Issues
Water is essential to the planet’s functioning and to all forms of life. Although it covers 3/4 of the Earth’s surface, only 2.8% of the Earth’s water is freshwater, mostly in the form of ice. With climate change causing glaciers to melt and extreme weather phenomena to multiply – droughts, periods of water stress where water needs exceed the quantity available – freshwater ecosystems need to be the focus of attention. Ensuring that people have fair access to this stressed resource is a major challenge for the 21st century.
To achieve this, freshwater ecosystems need to be protected and restored, and agricultural systems need to evolve towards water sobriety and resilience. At the same time, as glaciers melt, new ecosystems are emerging that need to be studied and protected.
Actions
Mirova Foundation has committed to supporting two innovative projects run by WWF France, the French section of the World Wide Fund for Nature.
- Ice&Life
One of the challenges of this project is to protect the areas reclaimed by life after the retreat of the glaciers. A multidisciplinary research team*, coordinated by glaciologist Jean-Baptiste Bosson at the Conservatoire d’espaces naturels de Haute-Savoie (Asters), will collect and analyse data in the French Alps in order to anticipate the consequences of melting glaciers. Communication campaigns will be run by the partner organisations (Asters-CEN74, IUCN) and the project’s ambassadors, including athlete Kilian Jornet and Nobel Prize winner Jacques Dubochet.
In August 2023, glaciologist Jean-Baptiste Bosson and the Asters team published an unprecedented article in the prestigious scientific journal Nature on the evolution of all glaciers on Earth and the consequences of glacial retreat on ecosystems.
*ETH Zürich, Université Savoie Mont-Blanc, INRAE, Universities of Berne and Fribourg, Asters-CEN74 - Water sobriety and resilience in agriculture
In several French regions, the increasing scarcity of freshwater resources is a source of tension between farmers, public authorities and environmentalists. The aim of the project is to explore the political and technical feasibility of compromise solutions, and to identify areas and players capable of working together. The aim is to create, by 2025, a financing instrument combining public and private funds to support, at a pilot site, the development of water-efficient agriculture that respects aquatic environments.
Key figures

Our support
- Multi-year partnership over three years
- Financial support
- Skills sponsorship with a Mirova employee from the ESG Research team, an expert in projects related to water issues
- Outreach and raising awareness of glacier melting