The report, titled "Chinese hydropower - Damning Tibet’s culture, community, and environment", draws on detailed regional research coupled with advanced Geographic Imaging Software (GIS) analysis and mapping based on a sample study of 193 hydroelectric dams constructed or planned in Tibet since 2000. It presents in-depth analysis and a clear picture of the impact each dam will have on the local population in Tibet, religious sites and the surrounding land. A striking example of the wide-scale impact of dams is the construction of the 2,240-megawatt Khamtok (Chinese: Gangtuo) hydroelectric dam project in the eastern Tibetan county of Derge, which will forcibly expel thousands of Tibetans, destroy their villages and irretrievably demolish valuable cultural assets, such as centuries-old Buddhist monasteries.
Given the breadth of environmental, climate, social, and geopolitical costs of hydropower dams in Tibet, the report also offers viable pathways for truly renewable energy and necessary considerations for improving regional knowledge and cooperation on water management.
Key findings
– If completed, 1.2 million residents living nearby dam projects could be dislocated from their homes, communities, and livelihoods. Religious and sacred sites serving communities will also be destroyed.
– Almost 80% of dams studied are large or mega dams (>100MW), which carry the most significant risk to the Tibetan civilization, environmental sustainability, and the climate. However, over half the dams (60%) are either in proposal or preparation stage, presenting opportunities to change course.
– A truly sustainable pathway for the energy plan must account for the climate, social, environment, and geopolitical costs of hydropower and change course. No plan is sustainable without the consent, participation and co-management of local communities.
– Tibetans, who remain among the most politically marginalized in China, should not bear the highest cost to power China’s industrial centers. Any long-term solution must involve a political solution where Tibetan people enjoy the right to freely decide how their natural resources are used. This begins with the PRC entering into a meaningful dialogue with representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Key recommendations
– Cease all planning, proposing, and construction, including projects underway, of large-scale hydropower dams within Tibet.
– Protect the right of Tibetans to participate in all development projects as per the 1986 UN Declaration on the Right to Development and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the right to free, prior, and informed consent. Stop the forcible dislocation of Tibetan communities.
– Invest in properly sited and inclusively developed solar and wind power, as they do not carry the demonstrable environmental, climate, and social costs of hydropower. These projects should prioritize co-management, co-benefits, and maintenance of traditional ways of life, and in particular, they should correspond to the needs of the local Tibetan population.
– If China is sincere in acting as a global leader, it is imperative to engage in multi-lateral transboundary water policy forums to establish a mutually beneficial management architecture and data sharing norms. Hydrological data and dam project plans should not be used as bargaining tools leveraged against downstream states.
Read the full report along with all the key findings and recommendations here.