For Immediate Release;
24 September 2021
Contacts:
Tsering Dolma [Hindi and English] +91 9882417181 and pjtsedolma@gmail.com
Tenzin Passang [Tibetan, Hindi and English] +91 9667145772 and tenpassang@studentsforfreetibet.org
Tenzin Tashi [Tibetan and English] +91 88005 34847 and tibetparty4@gmail.com
Tibetans in India join with Global Climate Strikes to seek Climate Justice with the
message;
“The Earth is on Fire, and Tibet is Melting – Climate Action NOW!”
Dharamsala, Friday, 24 September: Eight Tibetan organisations in Dharamsala will hold a digital
climate strike in solidarity with the Global Climate Strikes ahead of the COP26 in Glasgow, UK from 1
to 12 November 2021.
Tibetans and supporters across the world are joining the Global Climate Strikes today, to raise
awareness of the Climate Crisis in Tibet. Like the Arctic and Pacific Island nations, Tibet – known as
the Third Pole – is on the frontline of global climate change, warming on average three times as fast as
the rest of the world. The impacts, including rising temperatures, melting of permafrost, changing
precipitation patterns and 8 billion tonnes of ice being lost each year from TIbet’s glaciers, directly
affect not only Tibetans, Tibet’s wildlife and ecosystems, but the water security of 1.5 billion people
downstream.
“There is a global climate crisis and Tibet is one of the frontlines. It is essential that Tibet’s climate
crisis issue should be included in the global climate discussion” said Wangmo of Tibetan Women’s
Association. “The earth is burning and Tibet is melting. We are striking on 24 September in solidarity
with the young people who have inspired this new movement, and to support the call for urgent and
drastic action. We join hands with the people of the Amazon, Pacific Islands and affected communities
around the world in the quest for climate justice.”
Tibetans in Tibet are courageous and resourceful, but under China’s rule their voices have been
brutally suppressed. It is imperative that the exile Tibet movement and our supporters put the Tibet
Climate Crisis on the map. China’s occupation prevents Tibetans in Tibet from being part of the global
climate change conversation, but it is vital that they are part of the solution. China is riding roughshod
over this unique land by building hundreds of mega-dams and wide scale destructive mining projects,
whilst removing the traditional custodians of the Plateau – Tibet’s nomadic people. A fifth of the world’s
population rely on the rivers that rise on the Plateau.
Organised by Clean Upper Dharamsala Programme, Gu Chu Sum, Lha Charitable Trust, National Democratic
Party of Tibet, Students for a Free Tibet-India, Tibetan Women’s Association, Tibetan Youth Congress and
facilitated by International Tibet Network
