Photo: Facebook
Tibetans are adding their voices to the Climate Strikes this month. Tibet Third Pole has been promoting action with a message about the importance of Tibet in the ongong climate crisis. Tibet Third Pole is a pressure group coordinated by the International Tibet Network with partner organisations Free Tibet, SFT, Australia Tibet Council, Swedish Tibet Committee, Danish Tibet Committee, Tibet Initiative Deutschland and the Tibetan Women’s Association.
They advocate for “action to alleviate the global climate crisis with particular concentration on the protection of the Tibetan Plateau”. Their message for the Climate Strike was, “Tibetans and Tibet supporters are joining this urgent action in solidarity with other concerned citizens and impacted frontline communities. We […] are in this together. The earth is on fire. Tibet is melting. Please join the Global Climate Strike and take to the streets near you”.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has added his voice to the calls for action, applauding Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish student who has sparked the whole movement saying, “It is encouraging to see how you have opened the eyes of the world to the urgency to protect our planet, our only home. At the same time, you have inspired so many young brothers and sisters to join this movement.”
And in the Tibetan community in exile across India, Tibetans have taken to the streets in support of the protest, calling for action to avert the catastrophic effect of climate change on the Tibetan plateau. High school students joined the climate strike, also known as the Fridays for Future (FFF), Youth for Climate and Youth Strike 4 Climate drive to add their voices to the many across the world who are demanding action against climate change from decision makers and stakeholders.
In Dharamshala, Students from Tibetan Children’s Village School, Lower Dharamshala, and Mewoen Tsuglag Petoen School drew attention to the many fragile and frontline ecosystems, carrying banners reading, “Tibet’s rivers, Asia’s lifeline” and “renewable energy for all”. Tenzin Pema, a tenth grader, said, “Basically, we are here to tell the adults what we have to say and make them hear our concern for this planet earth. Because there is no future if we keep on going like this!”
The exile Tibetan events in India were organised jointly by Students for a Free Tibet-India, Tibetan Women’s Association, Tibetan Youth Congress, International Tibet Network and jhatka.org. Their statement said, “the momentum that has been built by young people globally, to treat the climate crisis as a crisis has created the perfect opportunity for young Tibetans to resonate this call for climate action, and insert Tibet’s fragile environment into the international climate action discourse.”
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