Tibet disappears from the climate agenda despite crucial role as Third Pole

The Tibetan Plateau is undergoing one of the most dramatic and least studied ecological transformations in the world. This is the conclusion of a new report by the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP), written by 22 international experts under the leadership of Jagannath Panda.

The Tibetan Plateau, the Third Pole of the world

The Third Pole in danger

Tibet is called the “Third Pole” because, after the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions, the plateau contains the largest reservoir of glaciers and ice caps in the world. However, the area is warming at more than twice the global average, leading to glacier melting, permafrost degradation, and grassland deterioration.

The consequences extend far beyond Tibet’s borders. The plateau is the source of more than ten major river systems, including the Brahmaputra, Mekong, and Salween. An estimated 1.8 to 2 billion people downstream depend on this water for their livelihoods, agriculture, and drinking water.

Chinese dam projects

Since 2000, China has begun construction of 193 hydropower dams on the Tibetan Plateau. If all these dams were to become operational, Tibet would have a hydropower capacity of more than 270 gigawatts — comparable to Germany’s total energy production in 2022.

Particularly concerning for neighboring countries India and Bangladesh is the construction of a 60-gigawatt mega-dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Why Tibet remains absent

The authors argue that Tibet sits at the intersection of the most urgent issues of our time: climate change, environmental justice, indigenous peoples’ rights, regional security, and development politics. Yet the Tibetan Plateau remains largely absent from global climate diplomacy.

The reason lies partly in China’s geopolitical power and lack of transparency. The report documents how Beijing’s vision of “ecological civilization” masks a pattern of environmental destruction, information opacity, and limited accountability. Military construction projects and high-altitude exercises increase pressure on already unstable landscapes, while the secrecy surrounding environmental data prevents meaningful global assessment.

China’s pursuit of global climate leadership is undermined by this lack of full transparency. This opacity not only hinders the verification of China’s progress toward climate pledges but also erodes regional ecological understanding. Unlike other countries, China is rarely held accountable due to its economic and political influence within international organizations.

The Second Stockholm Forum on Himalaya called in October 2025 for Tibet to be recognized as a central pillar in global climate discussions at COP30 in Belem, Brazil. The year 2025 has been declared by the UN as the International Year of Glacier Preservation, which should draw additional attention to the critical situation in Tibet.

Concrete recommendations

The ISDP report presents a ten-point framework with concrete recommendations:

• Independent monitoring: Establishment of transparent, independent monitoring systems with satellite and hydrological data under UN or multilateral oversight
• Transboundary water management: Development of formal mechanisms for transboundary water management, including a possible Brahmaputra Basin Commission
• Climate accountability: Linking green financing and trade to strict environmental and social safeguards
• International priority: UNEP and IPCC should prioritize the region in their assessments and reporting
• Climate missions: Special climate missions to the Tibetan Plateau can fill the current data gap and improve early warning systems for disasters
• Indigenous knowledge: Promotion of the inclusion of indigenous knowledge and local participation in climate adaptation strategies