Glaciers in the Tibetan mountains.

Tibet’s Climate Crisis

Tibet is melting

Home to the world’s largest source of glacial ice outside of the Arctic and Antarctic, Tibet provides fresh water to over 1.5 billion people across Asia. The Brahmaputra, Ganges, Mekong and Yangtze rivers all find their sources in Tibet.

These huge stores of freshwater ice have earned Tibet the title of the Third Pole. However, the Third Pole is under threat.

While experts predict that South Asia will see a temperature rise of 1°C by the end of the century, in Tibet a rise of 4.5°C to 5°C is anticipated. Reports indicate that at least one third of the Third Pole region will melt due to the climate crisis, and a 15% loss of glacial ice has already been recorded since the 1970s.

China’s Climate Colonialism

Since invading and occupying Tibet in 1949, China’s reckless policies of resource extraction, rapid urbanisation, and destructive infrastructure development have accelerated environmental degradation. 

We believe that Tibetans are the experts on Tibet’s environment and ecosystem, yet the Chinese government locks them out of the conversation. Tibetan nomads who have inhabited the region’s grasslands for thousands of years, are forcibly evicted from their lands to make way for destructive mining operations. Those Tibetans living in Tibet who speak out against the Chinese regime are met with state violence and imprisonment.

By denying Tibetans their self-determination, China has attempted to silence their voice. 

But they will not succeed.

Tibetan activists march at COP26 in Glasgow, carrying banners and Tibetan flags.
Tibetan activists march at COP26 in Glasgow.

Tibetans at COP27

A global climate summit without Tibetan voices will always be incomplete.

At COP26 in Glasgow, Free Tibet joined with organisations and researchers from around the world to ensure that Tibetan voices were heard. The Tibetan delegation that we helped make possible met with key policymakers, spoke with journalists, and joined in leading grassroots protests on the streets.

This year, we hope to replicate these successes.

COP27 will be held in Egypt from 6-18 November 2022. Once again, we will be joining with friends around the world to strive for Tibetan presence in global climate discussions.

We need your help

For us to continue to fight for Tibetan representation and push for long-lasting climate justice for Tibet and the world, we are calling on you.

Free Tibet is joining with our research partner, Tibet Watch, to send environmental researcher Tenzin Choekyi to COP27.

This will be an expensive endeavour, with significant costs in travel, accommodation, and accreditation. As such, we are launching an appeal to help cover some of these expenses.

We hope that you will join us in this fight for Tibet’s climate by contributing towards this project. Your donations will not only help send Tibetan delegates to COP27, but will also go towards ensuring that we are able to continue campaigning for Tibet’s climate going forward.

Fight for Tibetan representation at COP27

Join the movement, and together we can fight for climate justice in Tibet. We need your help to ensure that Tibetan environmental researchers are present at COP27.

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We are Free Tibet, and we stand with Tibetans around the world. For their homeland, for their future and against China’s brutal occupation.