Brahma Chellaney writes: \u00a0When identifying threats to Himalayan ecosystems, China stands out. For years, the People\u2019s Republic has been engaged in frenzied damming of rivers and unbridled exploitation of mineral wealth on the resource-rich Tibetan Plateau. Now it is ramping up efforts to spur its bottled-water industry \u2013 the world\u2019s\u00a0largest\u00a0and fastest-growing \u2013 to siphon off glacier water in the region.<\/p>\n
Nearly\u00a0three-quarters\u00a0of the 18,000 high-altitude glaciers in the Great Himalayas are in Tibet, with the rest in India and its immediate neighborhood. The Tibetan glaciers, along with numerous mountain springs and lakes, supply water to Asia\u2019s great rivers, from the Mekong and the Yangtze to the Indus and the Yellow. In fact, the Tibetan Plateau is the starting point of almost all of Asia\u2019s major river systems.<\/p>\n
By annexing Tibet, China thus changed Asia\u2019s water map. And it is aiming to change it further, as it builds dams that redirect trans-boundary riparian flows, thereby acquiring significant leverage over downriver countries.<\/p>\n
But China is not motivated purely by strategic considerations. With much of the water in its rivers, lakes, and aquifers unfit for human consumption, pristine water has become the new oil for China \u2013 a precious and vital resource, the overexploitation of which risks wrecking the natural environment.<\/p>\n
China seems to think that the bottling of Himalayan glacier water can serve as a new engine of growth, powered by government subsidies. As part of the official \u201cShare Tibet\u2019s Good Water with the World\u201d\u00a0campaign, China is offering bottlers incentives like tax breaks, low-interest loans, and a tiny extraction fee of just CN\u00a53 ($0.45) per cubic meter (or 1,000 liters).<\/p>\n
Some 30 companies have already been awarded licenses to bottle water from Tibet\u2019s ice-capped peaks.<\/p>\n
Ominously, the Chinese bottled-water industry is sourcing its glacier water mainly from the eastern Himalayas, where accelerated melting of snow and ice fields is already\u00a0raising concerns\u00a0in the international scientific community.<\/p>\n
One of the world\u2019s most bio-diverse but ecologically fragile regions, the Tibetan Plateau is now warming at more than\u00a0twice\u00a0the average global rate. Beyond undermining the pivotal role Tibet plays in Asian hydrology and climate, this trend endangers the Tibetan Plateau\u2019s unique bird, mammal, amphibian, reptile, fish, and medicinal-plant species.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, China is not reconsidering its unbridled extraction of Tibet\u2019s resources. On the contrary, since building railways to Tibet \u2013 the first was completed in 2006, with an extension opened in 2014 \u2013 China\u2019s efforts have gone into overdrive.<\/p>\n
Beyond water, Tibet is the world\u2019s top lithium producer; home to China\u2019s largest reserves of several metals, including copper and chromite (used in steel production); and an important source of diamonds, gold, and uranium.<\/p>\n
China is forcing a growing number of people and ecosystems to pay the price for its imprudent approach to economic growth.<\/p>\n
Glacier-water mining has major environmental costs in terms of biodiversity loss, impairment of some ecosystem services due to insufficient runoff water, and potential depletion or degradation of glacial springs. Moreover, the process of sourcing, processing, bottling, and transporting glacial water from the Himalayas to Chinese cities thousands of miles away has a\u00a0very<\/i>\u00a0large carbon footprint.<\/p>\n
Bottling glacier water is not the right way to\u00a0quench China\u2019s thirst.<\/p>\n
Brahma Chellaney writes: \u00a0When identifying threats to Himalayan ecosystems, China stands out. For years, the People\u2019s Republic has been engaged in frenzied damming of rivers and unbridled exploitation of mineral wealth on the resource-rich Tibetan Plateau. Now it is ramping … Continue reading ![\"Bottling](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Bottling-Himalayan-Glacial-Water-300x177.jpg\")
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