Dharamshala, India – China’s rapid push across the Tibetan Plateau is turning the “Roof of the World” into a ticking ecological crisis. A new study from the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo‑Pacific Affairs released before COP30 warns that China‑backed highways, railways, airports and $170 billion hydropower schemes are accelerating warming, melting glaciers and permafrost, and eroding the grasslands that feed rivers for almost two billion people in South and Southeast Asia.
The research shows that Tibet is warming more than twice the global average. Glaciers are retreating fast, while permafrost layers melt, threatening the headwaters of the Yarlung Zangbo (Brahmaputra). The drop in glacier meltwater could change water flow, lower river levels, and endanger biodiversity downstream in India and Bangladesh.
In July, China began building the Medog Hydropower Station on the Yarlung Zangbo. Chinese officials say the project will add enormous energy capacity, but local residents, NGOs and regional governments fear severe ecological damage. The 2025 earthquake that killed over 120 people and damaged several reservoirs only adds to the seismic risk for this fragile region.
Meanwhile, mining in Chamdo’s Markham County is expanding, and a controversial fireworks show by outdoor brand Arcteryx in Shigatse sparked protests. Environmental defenders Tsongon Tsering and A‑Nya Sengdra have been jailed for opposing illegal mining and corruption, highlighting the human cost of fighting for ecological justice under Beijing’s control.
The Stockholm paper calls out China’s opaque policy, the prioritisation of speed and militarisation, and the suppression of independent environmental research. As the world eyes the COP30 summit, Tibet’s plight underscores the global stakes of protecting the planet’s high‑altitude watersheds.
Source: aninews
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