China News Service, Beijing, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Why does protecting Tibet's snowy plateau benefit the world?
Author: Yang Tao, Associate Researcher, Institute of Social and Economic Research, China Tibetology Research Center
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, known as the "Roof of the World" and "Asia's Water Tower", is China's "river source", a sensitive area for global warming, and a climate "regulator" in the northern hemisphere. The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is located in the main part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has a young geological structure, strong sunshine, high cold and hypoxia, fragile ecology, and a late start to development.
Coordinating the promotion of ecological and environmental protection, promoting economic development and improving the quality of life of residents, and achieving sustainable development are the goals that China has been striving for and the major issues that China has been constantly exploring, which will further benefit Tibet and the world.
How does Tibet's ecological and environmental protection affect the world?
For a long time, China has attached great importance to Tibet's ecological and environmental protection, and has continuously enhanced its strategic position in the country's overall development. In 2010, the central government made it clear that Tibet should become an important ecological security barrier, and implemented ecological protection projects, ecological construction projects, and ecological monitoring projects. In 2020, from the strategic perspective of the survival and development of the Chinese nation and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, we will promote the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau into an ecological civilization highland in China and even in the world. These measures will help people of all ethnic groups in the country benefit from ecological protection, and at the same time benefit the world.
Through unremitting efforts, the quality of Tibet's ecological environment has continued to improve, making unique contributions to the sustainable development of China and the world.
The first is to protect the "source of life" in Asia. Whether it is the Jinsha River flowing to Chinese mainland, or the Nu River, Lancang River, and Yarlung Zangbo River that eventually flow to Southeast Asia and South Asia, Tibet has achieved "a river with clear water flowing eastward and southward" by investing a lot of manpower, material and financial resources to ensure excellent water quality and maintain a clean state without pollution.
The fruit pond of the Yarlung Zangbo River in Motuo County, Nyingchi City, Tibet, is a big bend, and the scenery is magnificent. (Drone photo) by Li Lin
Second, to tackle global warming. As a globally climate-sensitive region and climate regulator, the Tibetan Plateau is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, making it highly vulnerable to global warming. With the support of the Chinese government, Tibet has actively participated in China's and the world's efforts to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality: on the one hand, it will reduce its dependence on fossil energy and reduce the consumption of firewood, turf and cow dung by farmers and herdsmen through the rational development of clean energy such as hydropower, solar energy, and solar energy. On the other hand, by vigorously promoting the greening project and afforestation activities in the "Two Rivers and Four Rivers" basin, large-scale "carbon sequestration" has been achieved, and 2022.117 million mu of afforestation will be completed in 9.
Third, promote global biodiversity. As a rare treasure house of biodiversity in the world, Tibet has actively set up 47 nature reserves of various types, providing habitats for wild animals and plants that are not disturbed by humans, and collecting and preserving more than 2000,<> kinds of germplasm resources of plateau organisms.
The black-necked crane, a national first-class key protected wild animal, forages in the farmland of Chubugou in Lhasa, Tibet. Photo by Li Lin
How to coordinate Tibet's ecological protection, economic development and improvement of people's livelihood?
The history of the world's industrialization shows that the development path of "pollution first, treatment later" will eventually lead to an ecological and environmental crisis, and even endanger the continuation of human civilization. As a warning to the lessons of Western industrialization, China has adhered to systems thinking from the very beginning, committed to the overall promotion of Tibet's ecological protection, economic development and improvement of people's livelihood, and paid more attention to the quality of development rather than blindly pursuing the speed of development. To sum up, it can be divided into five aspects.
First, through high-quality national spatial planning, the combination and proportion of production, living and ecological space should be reasonably set, and ecological red lines should be delineated. At present, nearly 90% of Tibet's land is designated as ecologically related land, which fully reflects the sustainable development strategy of prioritizing ecological protection.
The second is to vigorously develop a green and low-carbon economy, prohibit high-polluting and high-energy-consuming industries and projects from entering Tibet, and actively develop eco-tourism, clean energy, digital economy, ethnic handicrafts and other resources that Tibet has, and cultivate environmentally friendly industries that meet the needs of advanced technology and market demand.
Third, a good ecological environment should be regarded as an important part of the livelihood and well-being of the people of all ethnic groups in Tibet, and residents should be provided with clean air and a good living environment. Through the implementation of large-scale ecological compensation, a comprehensive ecological compensation mechanism including grassland, forestry, wetland, and cross-basin water resources has been constructed. Establish a considerable number of ecological jobs and promote the realization of green jobs.
Fourth, in view of the dilemma that "one side of the water and soil cannot support the other side", we should prudently implement various types of ecological relocation projects such as extremely high altitude ecological relocation, rheumatism relocation, and geological disaster relocation, so as to promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature. These not only alleviate the tensions between the rapidly growing population and limited grassland, but also free up more living space for wildlife. In addition, ecological relocation has also improved the production and living conditions of the displaced residents, such as moving from extremely high altitudes to areas in central Tibet with lower altitudes and better economic conditions, increasing the life expectancy of residents by more than 10 years, enabling children and adolescents to attend school nearby, and significantly increasing the number and types of employment.
Fifth, it is necessary to improve Tibet's ecological and environmental governance capacity and modernize its governance system. Through the promotion of the national park system, more areas such as Qiangtang and Mount Everest will be promoted to become national parks; Strengthen the lake chief system and forest chief system, so that local levels can take the main responsibility for ecological construction; Cooperate with the national environmental inspection system and establish an environmental protection inspection mechanism at all levels in the autonomous region; With the national scientific and technological strength, China will carry out China's second comprehensive scientific expedition to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to improve the level of ecological environment monitoring and scientific protection capabilities.
The "History of Human Activities and Their Impacts" detachment of China's second comprehensive scientific expedition to the Tibetan Plateau (Qinghai-Tibet Scientific Expedition) carried out the 2022 summer scientific expedition to carry out a scientific investigation at the site of Aligebu Sailu in Tibet. Photo by Sun Zifa
How to modernize the plateau "inside and outside"?
Tibet, which accounts for about half of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is an important subject in protecting the ecological environment of the plateau. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau region of Tibet is lagging behind in modernization, and is faced with multiple tasks of ecological protection, poverty alleviation, and modernization. To overcome the predicament, it is inseparable from excavating the traditional ecological culture and stimulating the endogenous protection momentum, and also inseparable from the implementation of active external assistance, timely alleviating the financial constraints faced by development, and improving the ability of coordinated development.
On the one hand, it stimulates the vitality of the traditional ecological culture of the people of all ethnic groups on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has a harsh climate, high cold and lack of oxygen, and the living environment of human beings is extremely unfavorable. These traditional ecological cultures have played a non-negligible role in coordinating the relationship between man and nature, and have promoted the long-term maintenance of the ecological environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Tibet actively excavates and protects these traditional ecological cultures, and integrates them with contemporary science and technology and the needs of the times, so that they can achieve creative transformation and innovative development.
The first tea garden was built in Metuo County, Nyingchi City, Tibet, in 2012, and as of 2021, 103 high-standard alpine organic tea gardens have been built in Metuo County. Photo by Gonggaraisong
On the other hand, investing a lot of money in the sustainable development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has alleviated or even overcome the financial constraints faced by Tibet in protecting the ecology, promoting development and improving people's livelihood. The rapid realization of multiple tasks of modernization requires a large amount of capital investment, and capital is scarce in the initial stage of development in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. In addition to various types of ecological compensation funds, a large number of financial transfers are also provided to promote Tibet's ecological construction and economic development. For example, in the past 20 years, about 90 percent of Tibet's total fiscal revenue has come from the central government, and the vast majority of the funds needed for the construction of major infrastructure such as transportation and water conservancy, as well as basic public services such as education and medical care, have also come from central investment. Therefore, in the early stage of sustainable development, it is very important for a region to obtain financial support from the central government or the financial support of the world's sustainable development projects in a timely manner to break the unsustainable model of "development first, big pollution, and treatment later".
By the end of 2021, Tibet's maternal mortality rate and infant mortality rate had dropped to 45.5 per 10,7 and 5.40 per <>,<> respectively, and nearly <>,<> women had been screened for "two cancers", greatly improving the health status of women and children. Photo by Li Lin
To sum up, the sustainable development of the Tibetan Plateau in the past 20 years has fully demonstrated the scientific and successful practice of ecological and environmental protection in Tibet. China's practical experience in attaching strategic importance to Tibet's ecological protection, grasping the main contradiction between ecological protection and economic development and improving people's livelihood, stimulating the vitality of traditional ecological culture, and providing timely financial support have provided Chinese wisdom and solutions for the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other ecologically fragile countries and regions with arduous development tasks, which are worthy of promotion to the world. (ENDS)
About the Author:
Yang Tao is an associate researcher at the Institute of Social and Economic Research of the China Tibetology Research Center, with a Ph.D. in economics, and is engaged in research on the sustainable economic and social development of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. He has presided over 2 projects of the National Social Science Foundation of China and 1 China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, published more than 20 academic papers, provided more than 30 think tank reports, and published monographs "Research on the Shared Growth Effect of Industrial Interaction in Tibet", "Energy Consumption and Security of Herdsmen in Nagqu in Tibet after Settlement", "60 Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet: Ecological Environment Volume" (Executive Editor-in-Chief) and "From Heavy Burden to Freedom: Changes in the Poverty Effect of Religious Consumption of Tibetan Farmers and Herdsmen".