Panel Discussion on Tibet’s environment at Madrid, Spain on 7 December 2019.
Madrid, 09 December: More than hundred people came to hear experts on Tibet’s environment speak at the ‘2nd Tibet Climate Action’ panel discussion held at the Ateneo de Madrid Hall on 7th December 2019 on the sidelines of the COP25 UN Climate Summit, currently underway in Spain.
The panel discussion organized by the Tibet Policy Institute, in collaboration with Casa del Tibet has brought in eight experts on Tibet’s environment from six different countries to highlight Tibet’s global ecological importance and its current environmental situation under Chinese occupation.
The Panel Discussion is part of the month-long COP25 Climate Action for Tibet campaign launched by the Central Tibetan Administration on 6th November 2019 to highlight Tibet’s global ecological importance during the COP25 UN Climate Summit.a
Experts of the first panel ‘Impact of climate change on the Tibetan Plateau’ highlighted three important facts, the ecological importance of the Tibetan Plateau, the severe cases of extreme warming on the plateau and the increasing cases of natural disasters in n Tibet in recent years.
The president of Casa del Tibet in Spain, Ven. Thubten wangche, who spoke on ‘the role of Tibetan Culture and Buddhism on environmental protection’ urged the world to support protection of Tibet’s environment.
Director of Scottish Center for Himalayan Studies, Dr. Martin Mills highlighted in great details, how Tibetan Plateau has seen extreme rise in temperature for last few decades and the alarming scale of its implications for Asia and the world.
Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, the Executive Head of the Environment Desk of the Tibet Policy Institute, spoke on the increasing cases of natural disasters in Tibet in recent years. His presentation highlighted the severe impact of climate change and excessive construction activities in Tibet.
Speakers from the second panel ‘Current state of environment on the Tibetan Plateau’ raised some serious issues about forceful removal of Tibetan Nomads, excessive mining and damming of Tibetan rivers were raised in great detail.
Kyingzom Dhongdue, the Executive Officer of Australia Tibet Council spoke on the state of Tibetan nomads and the forceful relocation of nomads by the Chinese government. She said the removal of nomad is a serious violation of human right and also detrimental to protection of grassland.
Kai-Muller, the Executive Director of International Campaign for Tibet, highlighted on scale of mining in Tibet and how it has led to grassland degradation, water pollution and repression on local Tibetans protesting again mining.
Panel Discussion on Tibet’s environment in progress.
Dechen Palmo, Research Fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute spoke on the state of Yarlung Tsangpo or the Brahmaputra and its implications for the Indian sub-continent. She explained to the audience the importance of Yarlung Tsangpo to India and Bangladesh, and the threat from rapid construction of dams on the same river by China.
The final speaker, Michael Buckley, an author and film maker of the Melt Down in Tibet, made a presentation on the state of Zachu or the Mekong river and its implications for the south east Asian regions.