Tibetan NGO, Tibet 3rd Pole (T3P), attacked Chinese damming projects on Thursday at the United Nations' 17th climate change conference, COP17, in Durban, South Africa, on the basis that these projects are exacerbating climate change effects and violating the rights of Tibetans. The Chinese government is aggressively damming Tibet's extensive river network as 61 damming projects are have either been complete or are underway. “A lot of Tibetans are being displaced from these areas where they are constructing dams. Also it is actually causing problems not only for Tibet, but for the other nations that depend on Tibetan rivers,” stated Tenzin Woebum, a representative for Tibet 3rd Pole, in an interview with Bikyamasr.com. China, which incorporated Tibet into its domain in 1959, is diverting water from Tibetan rivers at the expense of the Tibetan environment in an effort to increase its hydroelectric and hydropower capabilities. “There is a risk of the drying of rivers because of the damming,” asserted Woebum. China's damming projects combined with the devastating effects of climate change are creating a perilous situation for the billions of Asians that rely on freshwater from Tibet's glaciers. “Tibet is the roof of the world, the Planet's ‘Third Pole', home to around 46,000 glaciers, that are storing 40 percent of the world's freshwater but Tibet is warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the world,' stated Woebum in the press release. “If the current trends continue and governments don't start to take collective responsibility for all live on Earth, Tibet's glaciers might be gone within a decade. These glaciers feed the rivers that are the lifeblood of Asia, providing water for billions of people in ten nations downstream of Tibet,” she added. Tibet 3rd Pole is an organization that aims to shed light on the effects of climate change in Tibet and advocates for Tibetan environmental self-determination. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/xL9Ey Tags: China, Climate Change, COP-17, Tibet Section: East Asia, Environment, Going Green, Latest News
