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TIBET THIRD POLE

Foreningen Frit Tibet tog initiativ til at skabe en gruppe indenfor det internationale Tibet støttenetværk ITSN i forbindelse med Klimatopmødet i København. Der blev etableret en international arbejdsgruppe, der fik navnet Tibet Third Pole bestående af personer fra forskellige tibetanske organisationer og Tibet støtteorganisationer fra forskellige lande, bla Norge, England, Frankrig og USA. Gruppen blev koordineret af John Isom fra Tibet Justice Center (Californien), og Charlotte Mathiassen fra Foreningen Frit Tibet. Tibet Environment Desk i den tibetanske regering i eksil var ligeledes en aktiv medspiller især mht at bidrage med materiale og selv deltage i topmødet. Det lykkedes Tibet Third Pole at få lavet en hjemmeside www.tibetthirdpole.org med baggrundsmateriale, film osv om klimaforandringer i Tibet og at få en delegation af tibetanere til København under topmødet. Det var første gang, at en tibetansk delegation deltog i et officielt klimamøde. Delegationen fik både mulighed for at gøre Tibet synlig og skabe kontakter blandt deltagerne i det officielle FN møde i Bellacentret og i en række velbesøgte arrangementer i det alternative klimamøde, Klimaforum. Gruppen var også meget synlig under demonstrationen den 12. august.

Efter topmødet har der været lidt stille om gruppen også her i Danmark. Vi er i øjeblikket i gang med at evaluere vores indsats under topmødet og at diskutere gruppens fremtid og hvilke kampagner vi skal fokusere på i den kommende tid. Der er stor sandsynlighed, at den i første omgang fortsætter som arbejsgruppe indenfor ITSN med samme struktur som tidligere. Vores formål og navn for bliver det samme og vores hjemmeside udvikles yderligere.
Her i Danmark repræsenterer Foreningen Frit Tibet fortsat Tibet Third Pole og støtter dens formål og kampagner. Det gør vi bla ved at lægge materiale om miljø, klima og tvangsflytning af nomader ud på vores hjemmeside, af afholde relevante arrangementer og at skabe kontakter og alliancer.

VI INDBYDER ALLE DER HAR LYST TIL AT ARBEJDE AKTIVT SAMMEN MED OS OM AT KONTAKTE OS. VI TILBYDER OGSÅ FOREDRAG MM TIL INTERESSEREDE

TIBET THIRD POLE MISSION OG KRAV


Tibet Third Pole kampagnen:

 

Formålet med kampagnen er at støtte tibetanerne i deres grundlæggende rettigheder til selvbestemmelse over miljøet i deres hjemland.

 

Tibet Third Pole arbejder for tibetanernes fulde deltagelse i alle dele af den langfristede genopretning, forvaltning og bevarelse af Tibets økosystem, naturressourcer og beskyttede områder til nytte for alle levevæsener. Tibetanerne har haft og skal fortsat have ansvaret for forvaltningen af Tibets økosystem.

 

Vi bestræber os på at skabe alliancer og samarbejde med akademikere, regeringer, NGOer og befolkningsgrupper i hele Asien, hvis skæbne og fremtid afhænger af miljøets tilstand i Tibet.

 

Fra demonstration under Klimatopmødet i København

TIBET VED KLIMATOPMØDERNE

Oktober 2010
COP 16 i Cancun
Tibet Third Pole gruppen og Tibetnetværket to initiativ til at sende følgende brev til deltagerlandenes politikere

 "We write to urge that the [NAME of] government gives serious attention to the ´Third Pole´, as Tibet is known, for being the largest repository of glacially stored water outside of the Arctic and Antarctic. We believe that multinational policies to mitigate the causes of and adapt to the effects of climate change must consider the challenges of climate change in Tibet, and include the direct participation of Tibetan stakeholders, particularly nomads. This is now a global issue and of huge importance.

According to Chinese meteorologists, temperatures on the Tibetan plateau are rising twice as fast as the rest of the earth, and Tibet is an increasingly important barometer of global climate change. Glaciers are melting, exposing dark rock and soil, and increasing the absorption of solar radiation. Due to resultant variations in the monsoon cycle, many areas on the Tibetan plateau are drying out and desertifying.

We are profoundly concerned about the environmental degradation on the Tibetan plateau, the so-called Third Pole, as a result of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions, the mismanagement of natural resources by Chinese governmental and commercial interests, and the settlement of Tibetan nomads into fixed communities, which separates them from their traditional livelihood and stewardship of Tibetan grasslands. According to scientists, the Chinese government´s land-use policies are contributing to the acceleration of global warming and environmental destruction, including degradation of the grasslands, on the fragile high-altitude plateau. These land-use policies include the construction of infrastructure, an emphasis on urbanization despite a predominantly rural population, and the settlement of nomads, which is threatening one of the last examples of sustainable pastoralism on earth. Tibetans are being deprived of the stewardship of their land at a time of environmental crisis.

Because Tibet is the source of several of the world´s largest rivers and plays a prominent role in the Asian monsoon system, the consequences will affect the lives of millions of people downstream as well as those on the high plateau. In the long term, the disappearance of glaciers will create severe water shortages.  Millions of people in Asia have a stake in the fate of Tibet´s glaciers and grasslands.

Tibet is central to a global climate change solution, and the Tibetan people must play a critical role in the implementation of solutions. [deleted sentence here] We call you to explore multinational mechanisms to work collaboratively on the challenges of climate change in Tibet, including with the direct participation of Tibetan stakeholders. We additionally urge the [NAME] government to consider initiatives and policies that take into account the following:

1. The need for independent, international scientific assessments of the changes in the Tibetan plateau´s ecosystems, water resources and land use policies. The participation of scientists and relevant stakeholders from Tibet and from those nations that depend on Tibet´s water is necessary for rigorous examination, analysis and interpretation of conditions on the plateau. This will facilitate an equitable and durable approach to adapting to and mitigating the affects of climate change in the region, including science-based ecosystem restoration and management of the plateau´s grasslands and forests.

2. The necessity for participation of Tibetans, especially Tibetan nomads, in the decision-making and management of the plateau´s natural resources. Tibet´s nomads have been stewards of its rangelands for thousands of years. Their experience is essential not only for understanding changes in the ecosystem, but for addressing the threat of degradation of the grasslands. Unfortunately, government policies are ignoring this essential human resource and settling and displacing nomads from the grasslands in a misguided attempt to reduce desertification. This goes against the latest scientific research that states that livestock mobility is critical to the health of the grasslands and that grazing can mitigate the negative warming effects on the rangelands. There is increasing consensus among Chinese, Tibetan and Western scholars that the traditional ecosystem knowledge of nomadic pastoralists is an essential component of any solution.

3. Encourages trans-boundary collaborative decision-making and governance of the Tibetan plateau´s water resources, including all regional and local stakeholders. Such multi-national cooperation will enhance the effectiveness of mitigation policies and promote equitable adaptation strategies that can reduce the risk of conflict over competition for water resources.   

Just as China is essential to successful implementation of global climate change solutions, Tibet is indispensable to China´s ability to implement them successfully. We urge you to ensure that strategies to address climate change include stakeholders in Tibet, particularly nomads.  This inclusion is essential to understanding, mitigating and adapting to changes in the Tibetan plateau´s water, forest, and grassland resources and ecosystems, critical to millions of people downstream and for the stability and security of Asia.

For more information about these issues, please visit www.tibet3rdpole.org





Tibet Third Pole:
What We Achieved in  Copenhagen  
Tibet Third Pole team members began to arrive in Copenhagen several days before the official conference began on 7 December. Our goals were to take our message of Tibet, climate change, and human rights to the delegates of COP15, to liaise with journalists and make ourselves available for interviews, to network with NGOs working on similar issues, and to raise awareness of the issues with all those in Copenhagen - government officials, activists and public alike.  


Our first week focused on public events and media work, and began with two film screenings ("Undercover in Tibet" and "Meltdown in Tibet") at a downtown Copenhagen theater, both of which were near sell-outs. Two panel discussions, both open to the public, took place, one at Klimaforum (the alternative NGO climate conference) and downtown. Both panel discussions framed in detail climate change on the Tibetan plateau, the impact it is having on Tibetans and those living downstream, and how China’s climate change policies are exacerbating conditions for Tibetans and a billion people downstream. The Klimaforum panel discussion, which took place on International Human Rights Day was particularly successful: we spent an hour framing the issues for a standing room only crowd of over 150 people, and another hour taking questions and facilitating discussion.

In between the public events we focused on the media. We issued a number of press releases during the conference, contacted numerous journalists known to be in Copenhagen and held two press conferences, one at Klimaforum and the second in the Bella Center, the venue of the main conference. The latter was streamed live on the official COP15 website and can be accessed via the archive at: http://tinyurl.com/yc5re6y .

Panelists from the Tibet Third Pole team during their standing-room-only presentations and discussion on 10 December, International Human Rights Day, a the KlimaForum 09 in Copenhagen.
 
However, perhaps the most successful aspect of our media work took place in the hallways and public access areas of the massive and sprawling Bella Center. Having Tibetans in traditional dress and monks in their robes made our group very visible and many journalists would approach us as we were walking around the complex or even when we were seated having a meeting. We lost count of the number of "spontaneous" interviews that team members gave. Interviews were given to media outlets from around the world, the highlight perhaps being the French TV channel Canal+, who interviewed the Tibetan delegation for over 15 minutes. The Tibetans also attracted many photographers, one fine example, of Ngawang Woeber, appeared as a half page photo in the Swedish newspaper, Goteborgs Posten. The Tibetans also conducted numerous interviews – again, we lost track – throughout the two weeks with media broadcasting into Tibet, i.e. Voice of Tibet, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia.
 
The Venerable Ngawang Woebar, director of Gu Chu Sum, an NGO that focuses on 
political prisoners and ex-political prisoners, during an interview in the Bella Center.
 
At the end of the first week, on Saturday 12 December, Tibet Third Pole and Tibet supporters participated in the Climate Justice march, which attracted an estimated 100,000 people. Five members of Students for a Free Tibet from the UK and Germany joined the team on the march. With over 100 Tibetans and supporters, including 3 yaks and numerous Tibet flags, the Tibet contingent made for one of the most colorful groups in the march. Unfortunately Dhardon Sharling did not get to address the crowd as had been planned, because of miscommunications with the organizers. However, we were pleased with the prevalence of Tibetan flags and Tibet Third Pole banners in the press coverage of the march. Examples appear in the Sydsvenskan (Sweden): http://w2.sydsvenskan.se/bildspel/KMcop15/ and The Scotsman : http://tinyurl.com/ye79nyr . After the new year, you can also see photos from the various group members on our Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45407517@N08/

On Sunday we gathered at Klimaforum to continue with our networking with other NGOs and to plan our strategies for the second week. As a bonus, the Tibetan yaks were invited to perform on stage during Climate Justice Now!'s Peoples Assembly, which more than 1,000 people attended. The Tibetan presence at the Klimaforum was accentuated throughout the two weeks of COP15 with an exhibition of photographs of Tibetan nomads.
 
We returned to the Bella Center at the beginning of the second week to focus our efforts on lobbying delegates and members of country's negotiation teams. We broke into two teams and armed with leaflets, press releases and the open letter to COP15 delegates from the International Parliamentary Network on Tibet, we headed off to the delegation offices. Over the next two days all the delegations with offices (approximately 40 countries plus another 20 consisting of confederations, alliances and governmental organizations) were visited and at the very least given information on Tibet Third Pole. Many officials welcomed the team members and listened to their concerns, often in informal meetings over tea. Tibetans managed to speak to a number of negotiation team members including those from Finland, India, Japan, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey. In general, there was acknowledgement of the importance of the issue and considerable support.
 
John Isom, Tibet Justice Center director and Tibet Third Pole "yaktivist," in an interview with Taiwan Public Television on the day of the march. 
 
There were also chance meetings including with the Indian Minister of Environment, who gratefully received the Tibet Third Pole information, and the Bhutanese negotiator who just happened to sit at our table during lunch. A similar encounter had taken place earlier in the summit, when John Isom met for over thirty minutes with the Minister for Foreign Policy and Trade from Mongolia. The climate-change challenges that Mongolia’s nomads and grasslands face are similar to what Tibet is going through. But Mongolia’s government has taken a fundamentally different approach from how China is treating Tibet’s nomads and grasslands: Mongolia is working with their nomads in an effort to preserve the nomads’ culture, livelihood practices and grassland ecosystem. We see Mongolia's on-the-ground work as a guiding model for what can work in Tibet.
 
Even the Chinese delegation did not escape our lobbying efforts. Even though we were denied access to their daily press briefings, Tenzin Norbu still managed to hand over the TIbet Third Pole information to one of the Chinese ministers as he exited one of the briefings. The minister also accepted a khatag from Norbu! There was no direct response to the information, but at least we know the Chinese government was aware of our presence.
 
Actually, we were already fairly sure that China knew of Tibet Third Pole's presence at COP15. Over the weekend the Tibet Third Pole website was hacked and throughout the conference was attacked by a torrent of spam - an indication that our friends are not too happy with the message we are promoting. But at least they have taken notice!
 
With two days of lobbying under our belts we were looking forward to the next stage, which was to lobby individual delegates at the plenary sessions (which we had learned was possible in between official statements that were to be delivered during the day). In particular we hoped to meet those delegates who did not have offices, such as the smaller nations downstream from the Tibetan plateau. However, the COP secretariat, acting in the name of security – heads of state had started to fly into Copenhagen for the COP15 – cancelled accreditation for almost all NGOs on Tuesday night, making a mockery of the transparency and accountability of the process that had been promised prior to the start of COP15.
 
Chokyi (CTA Environment Desk), Tenzin Choedon (Tibetan Settlement Office), and Tenzin Dhardon Sharling
(Tibetan Women's Association) during the 12 December march.
 
Despite this setback, we switched our focus back to the Klimaforum, networking and continuing with our media work. Following the success of the panel discussion at Klimaforum during the first week, we decided to take the opportunity of hosting a second event. On Wednesday, this time in a larger hall, we attracted 250 activists, who listened to a variety of environmental issues affecting Tibetans and about political prisoners who have been detained for speaking out about environmental issues in Tibet. 
 
Members of the Tibet Third Pole's panel at the KlimaForum, attended by 250 activists.
 
As the second week was coming to a close, Thubten Samdup, the Dalai Lama's representative to Northern Europe and the UK, arrived in Copenhagen, and agreed to be a guest speaker at one of our events. Thubten Samdup had come to Denmark to discuss with Danish ministers the recent statements made by the Danish government over the Tibet issue. Not only did he take time out of his busy schedule to meet the Tibet Third Pole team and give a public talk, he also attended a special "dialogue" meeting arranged by Tibet Third Pole between Tibetans and Chinese community members living in Denmark. This meeting was set-up to allow discussion of common issues, especially concerning the environment. The "green dialogue" was so successful that at the end of the meeting the suggestion was made to form a Chinese-Tibetan friendship group in Denmark.
 
Some of the members of the Tibet Third Pole team in the Bella Center, Copenhagen. Left to right: Tenzin Norbu, Tash Despa, Chokyi, Charlotte Mathiassen, Paul Golding, Dolkar Lhamo Kirti, Stephanie Brigden, Tenzin Dhardon Sharling, John Isom, and Lama Lobsang. Missing: Anders Andersen, Mandie Mckeown, Alison Reynolds, Kate Saunders, Roy-Arne Varsi, Matt Whitticase, and Venerable Ngawang Woebar.
 
As our time came to an end in Copenhagen we spent the final afternoon reflecting on our experiences. The overwhelming feeling was one of initial success. We had spread the message of Tibet Third Pole to our intended audiences – to COP15 delegations, to the media, to other NGOs and activists, and to the public. The response from those we lobbied, gave interviews to and networked with, can be summed up as "Wow, we didn't realize that this was happening… This is really important.” 
 
Given the tens of thousands of voices at the conference, and given our relatively small team and limited resources, we achieved much. However, we also realize that this is just a beginning.
 
There is much still to do.