Mr. Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary of India, Mr. Martin Bursik, former deputy prime minister of Czech Republic and Mr. Tenzin Lekshay launching the book ‘The state of the ecology of the Tibetan plateau’ published by FNVA. (Photo: Kalsang Jigme)
On 2 August, the Tibet Policy Institute, Central Tibetan Administration and the Foundation for Non-violent Alternatives (FNVA) jointly organized a one-day 2nd Tibet Environment conference with the theme, ‘Climate Change on the Third Pole and Its Impact’ at India International Centre, New Delhi.
The conference started with the inaugural session. Deputy director of Tibet Policy Institute Mr. Tenzin Lekshay welcomed the participants and the speakers. and briefly introduced the conference by highlighting the importance of Tibet’s environment to the world. During the inaugural session, a new book title ‘The state of the ecology of the Tibetan plateau’ published by FNVA was released.
In his Keynote address Mr. Shyam Saran, former foreign secretary of India spoke about a variety of issues related to Tibet’s environment. He emphasized on importance of collaborative response rather than the competitive response in resolving the environmental issue. He said, “No country can actually find solution of its own, only way they can deal with environmental issue is through collaborative approach”.
Mr. Martin Bursik, Former Deputy Prime minister and former environment minister of Czech Republic delivered the special address. He highlighted how climate change over last many years resulted in decrease of permafrost extent in Tibet, which poses a serious impact over the region and global at large. He also says that protection of environment cannot happen without democracy.
2nd Tibet Environment Conference organized by TPI and FNVA in Delhi 2019. (Photo: Kalsang Jigme)
Following the inaugural ceremony, three plenary sessions on three thematic topics were held to discuss the significance of Tibet’s environment. The sessions includes Climate change impacts the Tibetan plateau; Nomads, nature parks and environmental policies; and the state of Tibet’s transboundary rivers.
13 Eminent scholars and environmental researchers from Australia, U.S., Vietnam, India and Tibetan researchers spoke during the conference which were followed by an interactive session. More than 100 academic scholars, researchers, environmental activists, diplomats, medias and students attended the conference.