Sec. 4. Policy regarding the environment and water resources on the Tibetan Plateau
479 words·~2 min read·
/bill/116/hr/4331/eh/section-4A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: The Tibetan Plateau contains glaciers, rivers, grasslands, and other geographical and ecological features that are crucial for supporting vegetation growth and biodiversity, regulating water flow and supply for an estimated 1.8 billion people. Global warming threatens the glaciers in Tibet that feed the major rivers of South and East Asia, which supply freshwater to an estimated 1.8 billion people. Rising global temperatures—especially in the Tibetan Plateau where the average temperature has increased at twice the global average—will result in variable water flows in the future.
The construction in Tibet of large hydroelectric power dams intended to be used in part to transmit power to Chinese provinces outside of Tibet, as well as other infrastructure projects, including the Sichuan-Tibet railroad, may also lead to the resettlement of thousands of Tibetans and transform the environment. The grasslands of Tibet play a significant role in carbon production and sequestration and Tibet’s rivers support wetlands that play a key role in water storage, water quality, and the regulation of water flow, support biodiversity, foster vegetation growth, and act as carbon sinks.
Rising temperatures and intensifying evaporation, can affect the water supply, cause desertification, and destabilize infrastructure on the Tibetan Plateau and beyond. Traditional Tibetan grassland stewardship practices, which can be key to mitigating the negative effects of warming on the Tibetan Plateau, are undermined by the resettlement of nomads from Tibetan grasslands. The People’s Republic of China has approximately 20 percent of the world’s population but only around 7 percent of the world’s water supply, while many countries in South and Southeast Asia rely on the rivers flowing from the Himalayas of the Tibetan Plateau.
The People’s Republic of China has already completed water transfer programs diverting billions of cubic meters of water yearly and has plans to divert more waters from the Tibetan plateau in China. The Secretary of State, in coordination with relevant agencies of the United States Government, should— pursue collaborative efforts with Chinese and international scientific institutions, as appropriate, to monitor the environment on the Tibetan Plateau, including glacial retreat, temperature rise, and carbon levels, in order to promote a greater understanding of the effects on permafrost, river flows, grasslands and desertification, and the monsoon cycle; engage with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Tibetan people, and nongovernmental organizations to encourage the participation of Tibetan nomads and other Tibetan stakeholders in the development and implementation of grassland management policies, in order to utilize their indigenous experience in mitigation and stewardship of the land and to assess policies on the forced resettlement of nomads; and encourage a regional framework on water security, or use existing frameworks, such as the Lower Mekong Initiative, to facilitate cooperative agreements among all riparian nations that would promote transparency, sharing of information, pollution regulation, and arrangements on impounding and diversion of waters that originate on the Tibetan Plateau.