On 12 December 2024, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/79/142, an initiative led by Indonesia and co-sponsored by more than 50 countries, designating 27 August each year as World Lake Day, with the first official observance held in 2025. The date commemorates the opening of the first World Lake Conference in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, in 1984, home to Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake. The day matters because lakes are among the world's most important sources of freshwater, biodiversity and food security, with hundreds of millions of people relying on them for drinking water, agriculture and fishing, as well as their role in regulating local climates. Yet lakes worldwide face mounting pressure from industrial and agricultural pollution, overexploitation, and climate-driven drought, threatening the ecosystems that depend on them. The day is marked through scientific conferences and community events highlighting the state of lakes worldwide, local lake clean-up and protection campaigns, and educational initiatives raising awareness among new generations about sustainable freshwater management.