PARIS: A panel discussion on the global significance of the Tibetan Plateau and its current environmental situation was held at the Grand Palais in Paris on 8 December 2015.
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) organised the panel discussion as part of its ongoing ‘COP21 Climate Action for Tibet’ campaign to urge the United Nations and the world leaders to recognise the global significance of the Tibetan Plateau and make it as one of the main issues to any climate change discussions.
The speakers at the panel include, Kalon Dicki Chhoyang of the Department of Information & International Relations, CTA, French environmentalist and Buddhist scholar Reverence Matthieu Ricard, Former Deputy Prime Minister as well as former environment minister of Czech Republic Martin Bursik, Environment researcher and former head of the environment & Development Desk (CTA) Tenzin Norbu, and environment Research Fellow at the Tibet Policy Institute (CTA) Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen.
Kalon Dicki Chhoyang chaired the panel discussion and introduced the goals and backgrounds of CTA’s COP21 climate action for Tibet campaign to a fully packed audience.
It was followed by screening of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s video message on climate change and need for collective effort.
“This blue planet is our only home and Tibet is its roof. As vital as the Arctic and Antarctic, it is the Third Pole”said His Holiness the Dalai Lama. “The Tibetan Plateau needs to be protected, not just for Tibetans but for the environmental health and sustainability of the entire world.”
Rev. Matthieu Ricard spoke about the important role of Tibetan culture in environment protection.
Martin Bursik talked about the need for international role in protection of Tibetan Plateau and his personal experience in traveling to Tibet and Mount Everest regions in 1988.
Tenzin Norbu’s presentation detailed current environmental situation in Tibet, the extensive mining on Tibetan mountains and grassland, the danger of numerous dams on the Tibetan rivers and the forceful removal of Tibetan nomads.
Zamlha Tempa Gyaltsen spoke on the global significance of the Tibetan plateau and the impact of climate change on the plateau. He highlighted the important role of the world’s highest plateau in influencing global climate, including the recent heat waves in Europe. He called for a collective apolitical effort from the Tibetan people, Chinese government and International community in protecting the Tibetan Plateau.
This is the second week of COP21 Climate Conference and a team of Tibetan activists and researchers are in Paris to attend the conference in order to draw the attention of the international community towards the deteriorating environmental problems in Tibet.
Source: Central Tibetan Administration
