Tibet’s Environment Raised at UN Climate Discussions/ENG

2019. május 3./CTA/TibetPress

eredeti cikk



Geneva: The United Nation’s Working Group on the Right to Development is currently in the midst of its 20th session reviewing the progress made in the implementation of the right to development.

An interactive dialogue between Member States, experts and civil society groups was held focusing on the implications of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The expert presentations looked at climate change as one of the most pressing challenges today and understanding it as a development issue, instead of simply an environmental issue.

“When we are discussing climate change, it is surprising to see that many people do not know about the world’s Third Pole, which is the Tibetan plateau,” said Kunchok Yaklha on behalf of Society for Threatened Peoples.

After the Arctic and the Antarctic, the Tibetan plateau holds the largest number of glaciers and snow with around 1.3 billion people – that is one-third of the world’s population – in Asia dependent on rivers flowing from the region.

Studies show that Tibet’s glaciers are melting faster than anywhere else in the world and its temperature increasing three times faster than the global average.

Yaklha stated that tackling climate change should go further than just focusing on mitigation and adaption.

“We need to locate and study regions [such as the Tibetan plateau] which can have drastic environmental impacts beyond their borders,” she added.

Canadian scientists have said that how cold the winter will be in Canada is dependent upon what is happening on the Tibetan plateau.

Despite Tibet’s ecological significance to the world, it is concerning that the region is absent from global climate discussions.

The global fight against climate change cannot be won without saving Tibet’s unique and fragile environment.

-Filed by Tibet Bureau Geneva