TWA’s advocacy work at UN COP-18 climate meeting successfully completed
twaPost Event Press Release:
December 11, 2012, Dharamsala: Tibetan advocates representing the Tibet the third Pole [1] tabled the dire environmental issue of Tibet at the prestigious United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC), Doha from November 26 – December 7.
Tenzin Choedon, officer of Women’s Environment and Development desk of Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) and Tenzin Norbu, head of Environment and Development desk of Central Tibetan Administration took part in a weeklong proceeding at the 18th Conference of Parties (COP) summit. Amidst 17,000 participants, official delegates from 194 nations, and 1,500 journalists from across the globe, the Tibetan voice was pertinent in the significant gathering clamoring for climate justice.
“Building networks with civil bodies and environmental NGOs from the downstream nations in Asia [2] receiving Tibet’s waters to garner their attention towards China’s mismanagement of Tibet’s Waters and resources thus adversely impacting the water and food security of 2 billion lives in downstream nations was one of our key achievements at the conference”, said Choedon.
“While direct face to face lobbying with the official representatives and environmental ministries of the downstream nations remained a low key affair owing to their inaccessibility and primarily because of China’s ubiquitous presence, but we petitioned them and we hope to strengthen our efforts to realizing a coalition of the downstream nations in the near future.”
TWA remains committed to follow up with our advocacy work in the Asian realm to establish a strong Asian voice against the unprecedented environmental crisis engulfing the roof of the world and thereby make China accountable for their actions and to pressure China to hold a more responsible approach towards managing Tibet’s resources and thereby secure Asia’s future.
Choedon further affirms that “another accomplishment was engaging the mainstream media and apprising them of the draconian environmental policies of the Chinese Government on Tibet-also known as Asia’s water tower, such as ‘unchecked mining, rampant deforestation, river diversion and significantly the forced eviction of Tibetan nomads-the true stewards of Tibet’s grasslands’ thereby diminishing the centuries- old nomadic culture and causing social and economic exclusion and marginalization of the hundred thousand of displaced nomads deprived of their right of self-determination.”
“Clandestine collaboration with active environmental groups such as Asian Youth Climate Movement, at the convention center was gratifying as it asserted the Tibetan voice in the global fight for climate justice and it unequivocally established the eminence of Tibet-the earth’s third pole [3] in the age of climate crisis,” says Choedon.
Other activities included the distribution of TWA’s flagship publication ‘Purging the Treasure House: Displacement and the Status of the Tibetan Nomad’ [4] to the policy makers and screening of short films depicting the exile Tibetans’ efforts in the global movement against climate change.
TWA believes that the environmental policies of the Chinese government are exacerbating the fragile ecosystem of Tibet thus proving fatally critical for the future sustenance of the downstream nations. TWA advocates the right of the Tibetans inside Tibet should to determine the use of their land and natural resources. TWA remains committed to engaging in international advocacy work to draw global attention to the environmental crisis inside Tibet and thereby garner timely intervention and action to protect Tibet’s environment and thereby secure Asia’s future.
The mission of the Women’s Environment & Development Desk (WEDD) of TWA is to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change upon Tibet’s unique ecosystem and Tibetan women. The WEDD is committed to disseminating timely and useful information that highlights to the international community the critical issue of climate change in Tibet. WEDD continues to engage in proactive measures and sustainable developmental projects and campaigns to combat the destructive environmental policies that are denying the human rights of Tibetans living inside Tibet.
TWA’s slogan is ‘Advocacy for home, action in exile
Press contact: Tenzin Choedon: (9882162925 / 01892-221527/221198),
email: twawedd@gmail.com
Photos of the event can be viewed here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tibetanwomen/sets/72157632164620247/
[1] Tibet Third Pole (T3P) an international working group of Tibetans and Tibet supporters’ and was formed by the International Tibet Network in 2009 during the COP-15 summit at Copenhagen, in response to China’s threat to Tibetans and Asians alike. T3P seeks to build alliances and collaborations with scientists, governments, NGOs, and peoples across Asia whose fate and future depend on the ecosystem services that the Tibetan Plateau provides. Website is : www.tibet3rdpole.org
[2] India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and Pakistan
[3] Tibet is known as the Earth’s Third Pole because it holds more freshwater, stored as glacial ice, than any other place on Earth except the Arctic and Antarctic, the Tibetan Plateau is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Scientists are already warning of the disruption of vital ecosystem services, including water resources, as well as increasing risk of catastrophic floods, and impacts to the Indian monsoon, which provides vital rainfall to people from Pakistan to eastern China.
[4] The book was launched in December 2011 during the UN COP 17 meeting at Durban. The book throws light on the Chinese policies on grassland adversely affecting the livelihood of Tibetan nomad population
