Organised by the Senate’s International Information Group on Tibet, the conference on 3 December 2024 focused on water management on the Tibetan plateau, bringing together three speakers: Palmo Tenzin, researcher and advocacy officer for the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) in Germany, Dechen Palmo, environmental researcher at the Tibet Policy Institute in India and head of the Tibetan government in exile, and Tenzin Choekyi, researcher for the NGO Tibet Watch. This is a summary of the conference.
Although often considered a Chinese province, Tibet is in fact a country annexed by China in 1950. Since then, China has pursued a large-scale policy of erasing Tibetan identity in a number of ways: destroying monasteries, sending Tibetan children to boarding school to learn Mandarin, monopolising their natural resources, etc. Tibet is a water reservoir for the whole of China.
A veritable water reservoir for the whole of South-East Asia, Tibet is regularly referred to as ‘the third pole’, and plays a strategic role in the region’s water balance. An estimated 1.8 billion people depend on water from Tibet. Yet this region is one of the most vulnerable to global warming, and the massive construction of dams by China could have serious repercussions for all the countries in the region in the years to come.
Tibet and the dangers of climate change
Often referred to as the ‘water tower of Asia’, Tibet is the source of eight of Asia’s major rivers, including the Brahmaputra, Yangtze, Mekong and Indus.
These rivers are fed by Himalayan glaciers, which have been melting at an alarming rate for several years. Tibet is experiencing temperature rises 2 to 4 times faster than the rest of the planet, considerably speeding up the melting of the Himalayan glaciers. It is estimated that 75% of these glaciers will have disappeared by 2100.
While these glaciers provide water resources for consumption and agriculture for 1.8 billion people, their rapid melting is leading to unprecedented climatic disasters such as flash floods or, conversely, severe droughts, even during the rainy season.
This vulnerability to climate change is further exacerbated by the massive construction of hydraulic dams by China and the intensive exploitation of water resources in Tibet.
The multiple consequences of China’s damming of Tibet
The International Campaign for Tibet’s report Chinese Hydropower: damning Tibet’s culture, community and environment, published on Wednesday 4 December 2024, gives us an overview of the scale of China’s dam construction in Tibet.
Since 2000, the Chinese regime has launched the construction of 193 hydroelectric dams on the Tibetan plateau. These hydroelectric dams can fulfil 2 functions: storing water in a reservoir for deferred release, or diverting water using turbines. The conclusions of the ICT report reveal that their development has never been so important in terms of scale, scope and speed. In fact, 80% of the projects studied are mega-dams. More than half (59%) are still at the proposal stage (38%) or the preparation stage ( %). If these 193 dams were brought into operation simultaneously, Tibet would have a hydroelectric capacity of more than 270 GW, equivalent to Germany’s energy production in 2022.
The costs of these dams are extremely high, but the Chinese government chooses to ignore or even conceal them.
From an environmental point of view, these constructions are vulnerable to earthquakes, landslides and floods, even increasing the risk of these phenomena. Several earthquakes have already destroyed hydroelectric infrastructure, causing dozens of deaths and irreversible damage to the environment and biodiversity. Dams also increase the human footprint and methane pollution in fragile and isolated ecosystems. They degrade water quality and flow, disrupt aquatic life, affect soils and block nutrient flows downstream.
In human terms, the construction of these dams is forcing many Tibetans from their homes and lands. Studies show that 121,651 people have already been evicted since 2000, and the ICT report estimates that 1.2 million people will be evicted if the 193 hydroelectric dams are built. In addition, many religious sites will be abandoned or even destroyed to make way for these projects.
Although Tibet has considerable hydroelectric potential, Tibetans have no say in how their resources are used. It is the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese energy companies who determine the exploitation of Tibetan energy and the distribution of costs and profits. In reality, the exploitation of Tibet’s water resources benefits the major Chinese cities almost exclusively, while disproportionately and irreversibly harming Tibetans and their environment.
Tibet’s water resources: a major geopolitical and strategic issue for China
The Chinese regime’s long-term objective is to turn Tibet into a powerful energy exporter, supplying not only central and eastern China but the whole of South-East Asia.
By controlling the Tibetan rivers, China is establishing itself as a world leader in the development of hydroelectricity, a strategic lever for increasing its regional and international influence. While China’s hydropower policy is essential to its industry, it also threatens food security in South-East Asian countries.
The Mekong River is a prime example of the impact of dams on the countries of South-East Asia. This vital river provides water for around 60 million people, but the 11 dams built along the river by the Chinese government have led to a significant drop in water levels in the areas downstream from the dams. The consequences are irreversible: severe droughts even during the rainy season, a drop in fishing and aquaculture, etc. for the countries dependent on the Mekong, which are coming under increasing pressure from China.
According to Dechen Palmo, the countries of South-East Asia are currently dependent on China’s goodwill for their access to water. But as the situation worsens, they will soon be obliged to join forces to confront the Asian giant if they want to escape from this totally unequal balance of power. This imbalance could have disastrous consequences for the future stability of the region if the situation does not change quickly.
The unprecedented mobilisation of Tibetans for respect for their existence and their resources
Since February 2O24, demonstrations have been taking place in Tibet in opposition to the forthcoming construction of the Kamtok dam in Sichuan province. This mega-project will result in the expulsion of over 4,000 Tibetans from their villages and the destruction of 6 monasteries. Since the uprisings of 2008, which were violently repressed, and the 159 self-immolations of Tibetans that followed, protests in the region have become extremely rare. The current demonstrations therefore represent a strong act of resistance to the Chinese regime. Once again, the demonstrators have been severely repressed by the Chinese regime’s security forces. Videos have shown the seriousness of the situation: around twenty Tibetans, including elderly people and a dozen monks, were kneeling in front of CCP security forces, begging them to stop the construction of the dam, which would force them to flee. Many were arrested and some were beaten on suspicion of being the leaders of the demonstrations. Since then, military reinforcements have been sent in and no new images of the Tibetans concerned have been released.
While Tibetan exiles are fighting to raise the profile of their cause and alert the international community, many are wondering whether their action is having any real impact, given that there has been no real improvement and China is continuing with its construction projects. The law does not protect Tibetans but Chinese state-owned enterprises, and Tibetans continue to be arbitrarily arrested in their fight to denounce the illegal exploitation of Tibet’s water resources and the violations that ensue. The evidence they gather and disseminate on the internet and social networks is systematically censored.
If these dams are built, millions of people in Tibet and the rest of China will face catastrophic consequences in the years to come. Tibetans will be the first victims, but the people of mainland China will also feel the effects.
Possible cooperation?
Despite these challenges, and even if China is for the moment recalcitrant to cross-border governance, there is room for cooperation. Indeed, the IWRM approach could enable the water resources of Tibet to be shared equitably between the various countries of South-East Asia. As defined by the Global Water Partnership, ‘IWRM is a process that promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and associated resources, with a view to maximising the resulting economic and social well-being in an equitable manner, without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems’[1].
This approach has already proved its worth in the management of the River Niger, which flows through 9 West African countries and stretches over 4,200km. Since 1964, the Niger Basin Authority (NBA) has brought together the states dependent on the river (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria) and coordinated water management policies with the aim of preventing conflicts and promoting socio-economic development. The various projects set up by the NBA also enable regional cooperation in the fight against drought, for access to drinking water, the preservation of fragile ecosystems, etc.
The challenges faced by NBA are very similar to those faced by the countries of Southeast Asia. The cooperation that these West African countries have been able to establish should therefore serve as an example for the creation of real cross-border governance between China and the countries of South-East Asia around the rivers that have their source in Tibet.
Recommendations from the speakers
Tibetans must be consulted on development projects, and their rights must be protected.
Renewable energies (solar and wind) should be favoured from now on, as they do not entail the environmental, climatic and social costs of hydroelectric power.
China should sign and accede to the 1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses, in order to guarantee the fundamental principles of equitable and reasonable utilization and non-detriment in water management.
China should also engage in multilateral forums on transboundary water policy to establish a mutually beneficial management architecture by signing water-sharing agreements and scientific data.
France and Europe must support the international organisations that can act as discussion forums for negotiating these agreements.
France and Europe must put pressure on China and highlight the harmful consequences of these constructions.
[1] Global Water Partnership, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Integrated Water Resources Management 2000, TAC Background Papers No. 4, 65p., 04-integrated-water-resources-management-2000-english.pdf
India Hauteville
India Hauteville holds a first Masters degree in International Politics from Sciences Po Bordeaux and is currently studying for a Masters degree in Integration and Change in the Mediterranean and the Middle East at Sciences Po Grenoble. She is the current assistant to the founder of Solidarités International, Mr Alain Boinet.
She is particularly interested in the Syrian conflict and is currently writing a dissertation on the relationship between humanitarian principles and the realities on the ground in Syria, using the NGO Solidarités International as a case study.
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