The Military and Climate Change

15 september 2009

A group of current and retired officers of the Indian Air Force has called for greater involvement of the military worldwide in the discussion about the security implications of climate change. During a meeting at the Centre for Air Power Studies in new Delhi on 15 September, Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Marshal PK Barbora emphasized the contribution that military leadership can make towards mitigation and adaptation of the impacts of climate change. It is not surprising that this call comes from the military in India. India depends for its water on the rivers that originate on the Tibetan Plateau. But the glaciers that feed these rivers are melting due to climate change. Faster, in fact, than anywhere else in the world. Since the 1980s the glacial ice cover in Tibet and the Himalayan region has decreased by 6%, in other words 6600 km2 of glacier has been lost.This has huge implications for India's economy, its livelihood and its security. Asia, with 60% of the world's population, today already has less water per persoon than other continent. And Asia's economic development, rising population and living standard will demand more soon. The rise of India and China, the world's most populous countries and emerging world powers, may be constrained by scarcity of water. According to Brahma Chellaney, professor of strategic studies in New Delhi, "water has emerged as a key issue that would determine if Asia is headed toward mutual beneficial cooperation or deleterious interstate competition." The sustainable management of Tibet's water resources is becoming a serious security issue. The Tibetan Plateau is the largest water repository in the world. 47% of the world’s population, stretching from Afghanistan to Thailand, depends on these waters. Today, these water resources are controlled by China. And China needs the water from these rivers for its own economy and people. Huge hydro-engineering projects, enthousiastically supported by President Hu Jintao, a hydrologist, are build to divert the waters of the Yangtze in Tibet to northern China. A proposed mega dam will tap the water from the Brahmaputra, the world's highest river, just before its turns a sharp bend into India. The International Union for the Conservator of Nature has warned that these dams will permanently alter the ecological character of these rivers and threaten the water availability for the whole region. To China, the water resources on the Tibetan Plateau are first and foremost a national resource that is none of other states' business. Any mention of shared water resources, shared management, interests of co-riparian states, joint scientific initiatives, or multilateral mechanisms falls on deaf ears. There are no bilateral treaties or water commissions between China and its neighbours, 12 in all, that depend on these rivers. Something that is common all around the world, including in Asia. China is custodian of one of the world's most precious water resources. Control over the Tibetan water resources gives China tremendous power and leverage. This is the reasons China is so keen to maintain absolute control over Tibet. But the cry from the Indian generals is a reminder that the the impact of climate change on the Tibetan Plateau is not a national but a regional and a global issue.

The theme of the Chinese exhibition day of the Zaragoza Exposition 2008 in Spain was "humankind and water in harmony." The best way to preserve the Tibetan Plateau for humankind and secure harmony would be to declare the Plateau a World Heritage Site in which all have a legitimate stake.