DHARAMSHALA: The European Parliament’s Tibet Group will be holding its 97th meeting by hosting a conference on the state of Tibet’s environment in Tibet in Brussels on 19 June.
The conference, titled “Tibet’s Environment: Denuding, Degrading & Depopulating” hosted by MEPs Satu Hassi (Greens), Thomas Mann (EPP) and Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg (S&D), is jointly organised by the Office of Tibet in Brussels, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO).
The conference aims to discover the multiple facets of Tibet’s struggle against the degradation of its land, air and water, the organisers said in a statement.
Tibet, known as the “rooftop of the world” has been facing degradation of its grasslands, glaciers and rivers, at an increasingly alarming rate due to man’s presence and China’s enthusiasm to cash in on its rich mineral resources. Extractive industries, such as gold or copper mining, as well as deforestation have left gaping holes in Tibet’s already fragile landscape, the statement said.
Rapid of melting of glaciers and deregulation of water resources in Tibet will have repercussions for the whole of South East Asia, as billions of people living across Asia depend on rivers originating from the Tibetan plateau.
Keynote speaker will be Mr Tenzin Norbu, Head of the Environment and Development Desk of the Central Tibetan Administration. A short documentary screening will follow, after which a question and answer session will allow for further debate, the organisers said.
