cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/46910935

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China’s dominance in the renewable energy supply chain—especially in rare earth minerals, copper and lithium processing—has led to massive industrial expansion in Tibet. While promoted internationally as sustainable climate action, many projects have instead resulted in water contamination, ecosystem collapse, cultural displacement, and intensified political repression.

“Under the guise of green energy development, Tibet is being reshaped to fuel China’s economic and geopolitical ambitions,” said Tempa Gyaltsen Zamlha, Deputy Director of the Tibet Policy Institute, in his welcome address. “These mines and mega-dams are marketed as climate-friendly, but they have devastated Tibet’s rivers, grasslands, wildlife habitats, and traditional communities.”

The Tibetan Plateau, often called the Third Pole, contains the world’s largest reserve of freshwater outside the polar regions. Its rivers support nearly 1.9 billion people across Asia. Yet, scientists have warned that the plateau is warming at nearly twice the global average, accelerating glacial melt and causing irreversible environmental instability.

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