RAL SEMINAR: Climate Change and Water Security on the Tibetan Plateau

Climate Change has a severe impact on the Himalayan glaciers and resulting in the Tibetan Plateau warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. Its grassland is degrading, desertification is increasing and glaciers are melting due to both climate change and human activities. Increased glacial melting in the Himalayas, accompanied by increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns will have dire consequences on the water security in the Tibetan Plateau putting people’s livelihoods in great danger. The study will highlight the impact of climate change on the Tibetan Plateau. The paper will further focus on how the rise of temperature affects water security and its consequences on people’s livelihoods. Finally, the study will analyze how Tibetans understand climate change.

Ms. Lobsang Yangtso is an Environment Researcher for the International Tibet Network, Dharamsala. She holds Ph.D. degree in Chinese Studies from the Centre for East Asian Studies, JNU. She has also worked as a Research Associate at the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy, New Delhi. Ms. Lobsang has published articles in various journals. She has also participated in and presented various papers at international/national seminars and conferences at Dharamsala, Delhi, Gwalior, Bergen, Copenhagen, and Prague. Her research focuses are climate change in Tibet, China’s environmental policies towards Tibet, climate change on the Brahmaputra River, and China and Tibet relations. She is a strong advocate and campaigner for the protection of the human rights of the Tibetan people and participated actively in COP meetings asking for the inclusion of Tibetan people in the climate policy makings.