{"id":12256,"date":"2019-05-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/new-dams-expected-to-harm-unesco-protected-area-of-tibet-force-thousands-to-relocate\/"},"modified":"2019-05-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-29T22:00:00","slug":"new-dams-expected-to-harm-unesco-protected-area-of-tibet-force-thousands-to-relocate","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/new-dams-expected-to-harm-unesco-protected-area-of-tibet-force-thousands-to-relocate\/","title":{"rendered":"New dams expected to harm UNESCO-protected area of Tibet, force thousands to relocate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"text-box wp-block-list\"><li style=\"text-align: justify;\">A new report from the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) reveals the construction of dams and infrastructure in Tibet that will potentially force the relocation of thousands of local people. The report also explains how the dams may impact the biodiverse area of Tibet known as the \u201cThree Parallel Rivers,\u201d which is under UNESCO protection.<\/li><li style=\"text-align: justify;\">Despite threatening this region, China\u2019s powerful grid and dam industry, led by senior Communist Party officials, sponsored a UNESCO water conference in Paris this month, demonstrating China\u2019s attempts to silence criticism by coopting global institutions.<\/li><li style=\"text-align: justify;\">The proposed dams and other development projects will help fuel China\u2019s economic growth while deepening human rights and environmental crises in Tibet, one of the most repressed areas on Earth and an epicenter of global climate change.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to UNESCO, the Three Parallel Rivers region of Tibet is \u201cthe last remaining stronghold for an extensive suite of rare and endangered plants and animals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But this ecologically vital location, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003, faces unprecedented danger from major damming and hydropower projects that Chinese government officials are overseeing while China uses it political and economic clout to undermine UNESCO\u2019s role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ICT\u2019s new report, \u201cDamming Tibet\u2019s Rivers: New Threats to Tibetan Area under UNESCO Protection,\u201d investigates the effects on the local population and the downstream impact of dams on the UNESCO-protected Three Parallel Rivers site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The report, released today, features research and analysis showing that several new dams are either under construction or in planning around the unique location where the Yangtze, Mekong and Salween rivers briefly run parallel to one another. The research shows how dams are constructed either upstream or directly next to the protected Three Parallel Rivers area in violation of environmental protection practices and norms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Land ruined, locals relocated<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Three Parallel Rivers area is one of the world\u2019s most biologically diverse temperate regions. With about 7,000 plant species, it is known as the \u2018gene bank of the world\u2019 and was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Chinese development projects in the region\u2014including not only the dams but also new mining, major infrastructure construction and mass tourism\u2014threaten to erode its landscape and add to the spiraling environmental crisis in Tibet, which is already warming nearly three times faster than the global average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To make matters worse, Chinese sources say thousands of people will be forced to relocate as a result of the dam construction, including possibly 100,000 people because of the Longpan\/Tiger Leaping Gorge dam over the Yangtze River and more than 58,000 people because of hydropower projects in Qinghai Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interference in international bodies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UNESCO has not so far seriously confronted these worrying developments near the Three Parallel Rivers area, and its sensitive relationship with organizations closely linked to the Chinese state is of great concern.<br><br>For example, UNESCO\u2019s International Water Conference in Paris on May 13 and 14 was sponsored by the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization, known as GEIDCO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GEIDCO, based in Beijing, is led by Chairman Liu Zhenya, former president of the State Grid Corporation of China and alternate member of the 17th Chinese Communist Party central committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, former Chinese ambassador to Belgium Xing Qu was appointed deputy director general of UNESCO in March 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The World Hydropower Congress, held in Paris immediately after the UNESCO conference, was organized by the International Hydropower Association. The executive vice president of the association, Liu Chuxue, is also vice president of China\u2019s Three Gorges Corporation, which built one of the world\u2019s most notorious dams that displaced more than 1.2 million people and set records for the number of cities and towns flooded, corruption, human rights violations and environmental degradation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its report, ICT joins with other stakeholders to provide a number of recommendations to those who met in Paris this month, including that \u201cNo energy facilities that potentially impact the territories and livelihoods of [\u2026] traditional communities should be authorized without obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Quote<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Kai Mueller, ICT UN advocacy team:<\/em><br><br>\u201cThis report shows the Chinese government\u2019s strategy to seek UNESCO\u2019s endorsements and branding of sites in Tibet, while at the same time bypassing the norms and practices that properly preserve them, is both reckless and dangerous. By building dozens of dams in the Tibetan Plateau that are very near to and affect UNESCO\u2019s protected areas, Beijing is both putting at risk a unique ecosystem and potentially endangering the livelihood of thousands of people. UNESCO must do better to hold the Chinese government accountable and carry out a proper investigation, as UNESCO\u2019s own reputation will also be at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"button wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/damming-rivers-letter-090619.pdf\">Download Report<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/damming-rivers-letter-090619.pdf\"><\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A new report from the International Campaign for Tibet reveals the construction of dams and infrastructure in Tibet that will potentially force the relocation of thousands of local people. The report also explains how the dams may impact the biodiverse area of Tibet known as the \u201cThree Parallel Rivers,\u201d which is under UNESCO protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"categorie":[45,691],"news_tag":[675],"class_list":["post-12256","nieuws","type-nieuws","status-publish","hentry","categorie-inside-tibet","categorie-news","news_tag-environment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>New dams expected to harm UNESCO-protected area of Tibet, force thousands to relocate - Campaign for Tibet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/new-dams-expected-to-harm-unesco-protected-area-of-tibet-force-thousands-to-relocate\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New dams expected to harm UNESCO-protected area of Tibet, force thousands to relocate - Campaign for Tibet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A new report from the International Campaign for Tibet reveals the construction of dams and infrastructure in Tibet that will potentially force the relocation of thousands of local people. 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