On 22 September, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, is hosting a Climate summit in New York. Chinese President Hu Jintao is among those attending. The International Tibet Support Network, uniting 169 organisations all over the world, launched an campaign calling on Mr Ban “to act to save Tibet, the Earth’s Third Pole and press the People´s Republic of China to return stewardship of Tibet’s grasslands to Tibet’s nomads”.
According to the campaigners, the People´s Republic of China is permanently removing Tibet’s nomadic herders from the very ecosystems that have defined their culture and livelihood, despite growing scientific evidence which re-affirms that the nomads’ sustainable land-use practices actually enhance and protect the high altitude grassland ecosystems of the Tibetan plateau. Tibet’s nomads must therefore be vital partners in restoring and conserving the ecosystems and ecosystem services that Asia – and especially the People´s Republic of China – depends upon.
In a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the Norwegian Tibet Committee together with 168 other organisations, stated that “under Chinese occupation, Tibetans are being denied their fundamental right to make their own choices concerning how best to adapt to climate change. The impact of climate change combined with the repressive political system across Tibet makes Tibet’s nomads one of the most vulnerable peoples on the Earth today”.
Concerned about Chinese government continuing “under the guise of conservation, to remove Tibet’s nomads from the plateau’s vast grasslands”, the Network urged to raise international pressure on Beijing policies. “We appeal to you directly to raise this urgent issue with Chinese President Hu Jintao. <...>
We urge that you press the People´s Republic of China to:
1. Halt the removal of Tibetan nomads from the grasslands and return stewardship of Tibet’s grasslands to Tibet’s nomads.
2. Halt all land uses that threaten the Tibetan Plateau’s ecosystems, ecosystem services and water resources.
3. Press China’s government to ensure that Tibetan nomads are the key decision-makers in any activities involving Tibetan grasslands and freely consent to any efforts made to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in the region.”
Called the Earth’s Third Pole because it is the largest repository of glacially stored water outside the North and South poles, the Tibetan plateau is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, melting the glaciers and placing at risk the so-called “ecosystem services” that more than a billion people, in ten Asian nations, depend on for life-giving sustenance.
