Report of the Webinar on China’s Rapacity for Mining Tibetan Resources: When Will the Greed End? (Climate Crisis in Tibet-III)

Martin A. Mills, Gabriel Lafitte, Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy, Sriparna Pathak, Lobsang Yangtso and Jagannath Panda

Conference & Workshop Reports February, 2025

The webinar titled “China’s Rapacity for Mining Tibetan Resources: When Will the Greed End?” was the third in a webinar series on the Climate Crisis in Tibet, organized by the SCSA-IPA at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP). It was held on January 21, 2025. Thanks to its distinguished panel of experts, the event constituted a significant contribution to raising awareness about Chinese mining activities on the Himalayan plateau, and the effects of China’s policies in Tibet at the geopolitical and environmental levels.

The extensive Chinese mining activities are still overlooked by the international community, therefore, this webinar stems from a necessity to provide an overview of the topic from an environmental and geopolitical perspective to address the following research questions:

  • What is the extent and scope of the Chinese mining operations in the Tibetan Plateau? What does the latest data suggest?
  • What is the extent of extraction of critical minerals, particularly of rare earths, in Tibet?
  • What is the specific impact of such activities on the environmental degradation of the Tibetan Plateau?
  • What are its implications for the regional and global community?
  • How can the countries concerned about climate change due to excessive human activities like mining help to create awareness about the Tibetan issue?

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