Stockholm [Sweden], October 6 (ANI): The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) at the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) has released a new Stockholm Paper titled “Wither Tibet in the Climate Crisis Agenda?” The publication brings together more than twenty international experts to examine the accelerating ecological collapse of the Tibetan Plateau and its far-reaching implications for Asia’s water security, regional stability, and global climate governance, the release stated.
The study warns that the Tibetan Plateau, often referred to as the “Third Pole,” is warming at more than twice the global average. Glaciers are retreating, permafrost is thawing, and grasslands are degrading, threatening delicate water systems that sustain nearly two billion people across South and Southeast Asia. Despite its planetary importance, Tibet remains largely absent from international climate diplomacy, including UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) processes and successive COP negotiations.
According to the Stockholm Paper, Tibet’s ecological crisis is inseparable from governance and development choices. China’s state-centric model of infrastructure expansion, militarization, and resource extraction has turned one of the world’s most fragile environments into a zone of extreme ecological stress. Massive construction of highways, railways, airports, and hydropower dams—many with dual civilian and military purposes—has disrupted permafrost layers, fragmented alpine ecosystems, and displaced local populations.
The report documents that Beijing’s vision of “ecological civilization” masks environmental degradation, opacity in information, and limited accountability. Military-driven construction and high-altitude exercises intensify pressure on unstable landscapes, while secrecy surrounding environmental data prevents meaningful global assessment.
One of the paper’s most urgent concerns is the expansion of hydropower on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra). The proposed Medog mega dam, estimated to cost over USD 160 billion, embodies ambitions to turn Tibet into a hydropower superbase. Experts warn of heightened risks of seismic disturbances, landslides, and irreversible damage to downstream ecosystems in India and Bangladesh. The absence of transparent impact assessments or data-sharing mechanisms fuels fears that water could become a geopolitical tool.
Meanwhile, the extraction of critical raw materials such as lithium, copper, and rare earth elements has made Tibet a hub of strategic resource extraction. These materials are vital for global green energy transitions, yet their extraction in Tibet occurs with minimal environmental regulation and exclusion of local voices. The Stockholm Paper describes this as “extractive colonialism,” with the environmental costs borne by one of the planet’s most vulnerable ecosystems. Pollution, deforestation, and cultural displacement undermine both environmental justice and human security.
The human cost of Tibet’s transformation is severe. Since 2000, nearly one million Tibetans have been forcibly relocated under programs justified as ecological protection or poverty alleviation. Many have been resettled multiple times without fair compensation or sustainable livelihoods. These relocations, combined with demographic engineering and assimilationist education policies, erode cultural identity and weaken traditional stewardship of Tibet’s fragile ecology.
Despite Tibet’s critical role in regulating Asia’s water and weather systems, global responses remain muted. Political sensitivities surrounding Chinese sovereignty have constrained dialogue even as environmental thresholds are crossed. The Stockholm Paper calls for Tibet to be treated as a frontline of the global climate emergency, comparable to the Arctic or low-lying island states. The plateau’s stability is essential to monsoon patterns, biodiversity corridors, and continental climate regulation.
To address these challenges, the publication proposes a Ten Point Framework for Global Action, including transparent independent monitoring under UN or multilateral oversight, formal transboundary water governance mechanisms such as a Brahmaputra Basin Commission, linking green finance to strict environmental safeguards, and integrating ecological obligations into military planning. It also calls for protecting Tibetan cultural heritage, ensuring Tibetan representation in climate forums, recognizing displaced Tibetans as climate-affected communities, and promoting renewable energy alternatives to destructive mega dams.
Other recommendations include embedding the Hindu Kush Himalayan ecosystem into UNFCCC, CBD, and SDG processes, countering misinformation by amplifying Tibetan and scientific voices, and empowering civil society and academic networks to document the crisis.
Collectively, these measures aim to build transparency, accountability, and regional cooperation. The Stockholm Paper stresses that protecting Tibet is not political but an ecological imperative. Its degradation threatens Asia’s hydrological balance, undermines global carbon stability, and jeopardizes the livelihoods of nearly one-third of humanity.
As the world approaches COP 30, the publication urges governments, research institutions, and civil society to place the Tibetan Plateau at the core of international climate policy. “Tibet must no longer remain the blind spot of global environmental governance,” the release emphasized, warning that the crisis unfolding on the Roof of the World is shaping the future of water, food, and energy security across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. (ANI)
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