Recording available: Climate Crisis in Tibet – Part I: CCP’s Tibet Takeover: Wither Global Climate Action?

December 19, 2024: The recording of the webinar “Climate Crisis in Tibet – Part I: CCP’s Tibet Takeover: Wither Global Climate Action?” is now available on ISDP’s YouTube channel.

The Tibetan Plateau (also called the Roof of the World and the Third Pole) spans around 2.5 million square kilometers and is rich in biodiversity and natural resources, with implications for the wider world. It is part of the wider Hindu Kush Himalayan region encompassing eight countries (namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan).

In terms of Tibet’s climatic conditions, global warming has hastened extreme events such as permafrost thawing, glacial melting, earthquakes, water shortage, and floods. In particular, the increased rate of permafrost thawing in the plateau will have grave and even unknown repercussions, including but not limited to the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.  

In this context, it is important to examine what strategies and policies China’s Xi Jinping-led ruling regime, the Communist Party of China (CPC) is pursuing in Tibet. This will help in gaining a truer perspective by weeding out benign- or even constructive-sounding rhetoric (e.g., exploring China’s true aims for developing a “system of nature reserves in Xizang”).   

This webinar was the first of a new series. Find out more about the webinar here.