CLIMATE CHANGE-TIBET/DALAI LAMA-FILE Dalai Lama, exiled Tibetan leaders seek stake in international climate talks
Record ID:
1372146
CLIMATE CHANGE-TIBET/DALAI LAMA-FILE Dalai Lama, exiled Tibetan leaders seek stake in international climate talks
- Title: CLIMATE CHANGE-TIBET/DALAI LAMA-FILE Dalai Lama, exiled Tibetan leaders seek stake in international climate talks
- Date: 20th October 2015
- Summary: DHARAMSALA, HIMACHAL PRADESH PROVINCE, INDIA (OCTOBER 20, 2015) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (ANI - NO ACCESS BBC) VARIOUS OF PRIME MINISTER OF TIBETAN GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE LOBSANG SANGAY GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE SHOT OF SCREEN SHOWING PRESENTATION SLIDE READING (English): "TIBET CLIMATE ACTION, FOR THE ROOF OF THE WORLD" (SOUNDBITE) (English) DALAI LAMA, SPEAKING VIA VIDEO LINK ON SCREEN, SAYING: "Some Chinese environmentalists, they describe the Tibetan plateau as the Third Pole, because the effect of global warming on Tibetan plateau is as much as on the South Pole and the North Pole. So, they describe Tibet as the Third Pole. So, these are not political statements, but they are expressions of experts and scientists." ASSEMBLED MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) PRIME MINISTER OF TIBETAN GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE, LOBSANG SANGAY, SAYING: "Tibetan glaciers are vital for ten major rivers, the six largest (Asian) rivers, for providing fresh water to more than a billion people in Asia. And, from that point of view, Tibet is very important."
- Embargoed: 5th November 2015 07:25
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAXSQGF8XI7ZB14CLJKBWDBIO8
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: THIS EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
PLEASE NOTE: AUDIO QUALITY IS INCOMING
Tibet's exiled leaders, including the Dalai Lama, said on Tuesday (October 20) that two-thirds of the glaciers in their mountain homeland may disappear by 2050 because of climate change and demanded a stake in international climate talks later this year.
The Tibetan plateau, which has the largest store of ice outside the North and South Poles, has experienced rising temperatures of 1.3 Celsius over the past five decades, three times the global average, the leadership said in a statement.
Tibet, with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters (13,125 ft) is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. Warming is already melting glaciers that are the source of water in rivers that help support about 1.3 billion people.
The Dalai Lama said saving Tibet's glaciers wasn't a political issue.
"Some Chinese environmentalists, they describe the Tibetan plateau as the Third Pole, because the effect of global warming on Tibetan plateau is as much as on the South Pole and the North Pole. So, they describe Tibet as the Third Pole. So, these are not political statements, but they are expressions of experts and scientists," said Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader.
Close to 200 countries will meet in Paris in December to try to hammer out a deal to slow man-made climate change by aiming to keep temperatures below a ceiling of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
World leaders are hoping for a successor to the Kyoto Protocol after 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen ended in disappointment due to differences between the United States and China.
Tibet's leaders said they want an effective climate change agreement and also want to have a say in the talks.
About 80 percent of the ice in Tibet has retreated in the past 50 years, according to the government-in-exile.
"Tibetan glaciers are vital for ten major rivers, the six largest (Asian) rivers, for providing fresh water to more than a billion people in Asia. And, from that point of view, Tibet is very important," said Lobsang Sangay, the Prime Minister of Tibetan Government-in-exile.
With the rapidly melting permafrost, 12,300 million tons of carbon could be released into the air, further exacerbating the problems of global warming, they said. - Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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