Report of the Webinar on Dam Construction & Tibet as a Hydropower Zone: Implications on Tibet’s Climate Crisis? (Climate Crisis in Tibet-II)
Antonina Luszczykiewicz-Mendis, John Jones, Medha Bisht, Dechen Palmo, Anna Hayes, Jagannath Panda, Toby Logan, Giulia Saccone and Mariya Krupach
This webinar, organized by the SCSA-IPA at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), was held on January 20, 2025. It is the second in a series on the Climate Crisis in Tibet, which sought to address China’s key hydropower projects in the region. This webinar analyzed the number of “Super-Dams” impacting the Tibetan Plateau, alongside the rivers affected, those involved, and what havoc this would bring to the Himalayan region and beyond. It considered the ecological impact, China’s weaponization of natural resources, and how the international community should respond.
The webinar sought to discuss the following key questions:
- What are China’s key hydropower projects? How many of these are mega dams? Which rivers originating from the Tibetan Plateau will be impacted?
- What is the projected and actual scope and ambit of these initiatives? More importantly, what are the ecological effects on wildlife and on biodiversity?
- Are other countries in South and Southeast Asia partnering with China? Which countries are involved? And, why are they involved?
- To what extent has China already weaponized water as a critical resource? What can be done to control this weaponization?
- What are the regional and global implications of both China’s damming and its developing Tibet as a hydropower zone?
- How can awareness about the projects and their impact be increased among the international community? What must the world take note of?
- How can international forums, including UN-led multilateral forums like the UNFCCC, contribute to stemming over-damming of trans-boundary rivers?
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