New Delhi — The week-long advocacy campaign calling for climate action for Tibet, the earth's third pole, concluded today in India's capital city of New Delhi with a massive climate rally.
Hundreds of Tibetans and supporters took part in the first-ever climate rally for Tibet, coinciding with the global climate rally taking place across the globe on the eve of the UN COP21 summit in Paris.
On November 27, Tibet activists staged a bold street theatre action outside the UN Resident Coordinator's Office in New Delhi, demanding Climate Action for Tibet in the upcoming UN COP21 climate talks.
"We performed a street theatre to demonstrate the very real water security issues downstream countries like India and Bangladesh will face if China continues its reckless hydropower projects on Tibet's rivers," said Jyotsna George, Campaigns Director, Students for a Free Tibet-India. "The Tibetan people and Tibet's fragile environment deserve a voice at the UN COP21 summit, and we want the UN to take urgent climate action for Tibet: Roof of the World," she said.
"To address its internal water crisis, China is building mega-dams and water diversion projects at an unprecedented rate," said Norzin Dolma, Environment Officer, Tibetan Women's Association. "These projects will not only disrupt already overstressed water supplies of millions of people in south and southeast Asia but will also see the uprooting and displacement of thousands of Tibetans and destruction of the region's river ecosystems."
"In the last five days, we have met with political officers of the Embassies of Nepal, the United States, Australia, the UN Information officer, and with Shri Jairam Ramesh, former Minister of Environment and Forests, to stress the need for a multilateral forum of downstream countries to pressure China for responsible water usage and sharing," said Dhardon Sharling, Member of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile. "The highlight of our week-long advocacy campaign was lobbying all of the 11 downstream nations of Tibet including China," she said.
The Tibet Third Pole Coalition, comprising the Tibetan Women's Association, Students for a Free Tibet-India, and International Tibet Network, organized India Week of Climate Action for Tibet, with lobby activities with embassies of eleven downstream countries, staging of a street theatre at the UN office, and culminating in the climate rally for Tibet.
